-    5 


< 
< 

'A 

h 
O 

in 
< 


G  /9? 

THE    G-REAT 

CATARACT 

Ilia'stratbp, 


AND  a)MPi.i"rr.  v.vww.  to  ai  i.  points  of  interest  at 

AND   IN    rilK  VICIMrV   OF  THK 

FALLS  OF  NIAGARA 


"The  pcmp  r^^  IJy^^3„an;j  E^np^rar^, /a^E-^ery  cjlt.r;^'  and  zan-^, 
Grows  dinl*uiJ*'iyi;t!in;Fipl5'n;!;laJ^*^JfhS3.i»l{riJ'»3  watery  tliraaE  " 


"•»     •    •    •   .  •• 


tow  .''•^'*  ^*  *«i^^^#^^*' 


♦        4    ^ 


.*  ;♦ 


CHICilGD  I 

R.  LESPINASSE,  PUBLISHER. 

1884. 


CnPYRIGHT. 

R.   LESPINASjSE. 


■■■■■*    ',•«.••'•   -  . 


* 


•  II        n 

•  >»«.       II.   . 

*  S  •  «      /* 


•  •   •       ■    »    . 

•  •    •      •  »   " 


Blomgien  Bros.  &  Co.,  Electrotypers  and  Photo  Ei.g.avers    Chicago. 


Terrapin  Point  and  Horse-Shoe  Falls. 


^UBLISHEI^'S   Horna 


^he  Editor  and  Publisl^er  desires  to  actjnowiedae 
ihe  valuable  l^elp  obtained  hy  t[?e  perusal  of  a  few 
worlds,  from  wbicb  sbort  excerpts  appear  in  t[;e  pa^es 
of  U;is-  truide. 

QntUy  ^nollope's  R0RTH  QMCRICA,  pub- 
lisbed  by  RFlessps.  Harper  Bros.;  an  exquisite  little 
volume  of  (Jeo.  Houpbton's  RiAGARA  AND  OTHER 
Poems.  publisM  by  rriessrs.  Hou^bton.  FHifflin 
4^     C^o.;     and     t^at     world-wide    well     tjnown     ^tory    of 

^HEiR  Wqdding  Journey,  by  W.  B.  Howeik 

publlsbed  also  hy  +be  last  named  firm. 


Map  of  Niagara  Falls  and  Vicinity. 


Preliminary,    -  -  . 

Distant  Echoes,    -  -  - 

Adventures,     _  -  _ 

Discovery, 

Correlative,      -  -  - 

An  Imposing  Scene,  -       \  - 

Poesy,  _  .  - 

Creative  Prodigality, 

General  Notes, 

Icicles,         .  _  _  - 

Chilling  Bondage, 

Grand  Tour,  -  .  - 

Goat  Island  Bridge, 

American  Rapids,   - 

Ship  and  Brig  Islands, 

Bath  Island, 

Chapin  Island, 

Robinson  Island, 

On  Goat  Island, 

Hog's  Back, 

Luna  Island,     - 

The  Three  Profiles, 

The  Center  Fall, 

Biddle's  Stairs, 

The  Cave  of  the  Winds, 

The  Rock  of  Ages, 

Terrapin  Bridge, 

Three  Sisters  Islands, 

Leaping  Rock, 

The  Little  Brother, 

The  Hermit's  Cascade, 

At  the  Head  of  Goat  Island, 

The  Spring, 

Prospect  Park, 


11 
12 
14 
17 
20 
22 
27 
31 
40 
43 
45 
49 
49 
52 
52 
52 
52 
52 
54 
54 
54 
54 
56 
56 
56 
58 
58 
62 
62 
62 
62 
62 
64 
64 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS,— Continued. 


Grand  Tour- 
Prospect  Point.       -  -*-  -  -  -  -  -66 

The  Inclined  Railway,            ...._-  66 

The  Hurricane  Bridge,                 .._._-  66 

The  Shadow  of  the  Rock, 66 

The  Ferry, 68 

General  View,               __.__.-  68 

American  Falls — Front  View,       .           .          -          _          -          -  70 

Table  Rock,       -           . 70 

Horse-Shoe  Fall,    --------  70 

The  Spiral  Staircase,   ------  72 

Below  Table  Rock  and  Under  the  Fall,             -           -           -           -  72 

Canadian  Rapids,         .-_._--  74 

Grand  Rapids  Drive,          -------  74 

Burning  Spring^           __..-_.  76 

Navy  Island,            --...---  76 

Museum  Building,        -------  76 

The  New  Suspension  Bridge,        -           -           -           -           -           -  .  76 

The  Bridal  Veil  Fall,     -           -           -      .     -           -           -           -  80 

New  Cantilever  Bridge,     -------80 

Old  Suspension  Bridge,           ._----  80 

Whirlpool  Rapids,  -------82 

•  Captain  Webb,             -------  84 

Navigation  of  the  Rapids,             -           -           -           -           -           -  84 

The  Whirlpool,            ..--.--  86 

The  Manitou  or  Pinnacle  Rock,              -----  88 

Brock's  Monument,    -------  88 

Top  of  the  Mountain,         -  -  -  -  -  -  -88 

Qu<  enston,         -           -           -           -           -           --           -  88 

Lewiston,  _._-.---90 

Fort  Niagara,                -_--_-_  90 
Fort  Missasauga,     --------90 

The  Devil's  Hole,         -------  90 

Lundy's  Lane  Battle  Ground,      ------  93 

Drummondville,          -------  93 

Above  the  Falls,                .           _           -           _           -           _           -  93 

Chippewa  Battle  Ground,                  _           .           -           _           -  93 

Tuscarora  Indian  Reservation,               _           .           -           -           _  93 

Distance  Tables,         __---__-  95 

Admission  Fees  and  Tolls,           .--_--.  95 

Legal  Rates  of  Fare,             __.-_-_  96 

Parting  Injunction,          -          -          -          -          _          .           .          -  96 


fl^EbIEF)I5c^I^y. 


Anthony  Trollope. 


F  all  the  sights  on  this  earth 
of  ours  which  tourists 
travel  to  see, — at  least 
of  all  those  which  I  have 
seen, — I  am  inclined  to  give  the 
palm  to  the  Falls  of  Niagara.  In  the 
I  catalogue  of  such  sights  I  intend  to  include 
all  buildings,  pictures,  statues,  and  wonders 
of  art  made  by  men's  hands,  and  also  all  beauties  of  nature  prepared 
by  the  Creator  for  the  delight  of  his  creatures.  This  is  a  long  word; 
but  as  far  as  my  taste  and  judgment  go,  it  is  justified.  I  know  no 
other  one  thing  so  beautiful,  so  glorious  and  so  powerful.  At 
Niagara  there  is  the  fall  of  waters  alone.  But  that  fall  is  more 
graceful  than  Giotto's  tower,  more  noble  than  the  Apollo.  The 
peaks  of  the  Alps  are  not  so  astounding  in  their  solitude.  The 
valleys  of  the  Blue  Mountains  in  Jamaica  are  less  green.  The  finish- 
ed glaze  of  life  in  Paris  is  less  invariable ;  and  the  full  tide  of  trade 

round  the  Bank  of  England  is  not  so  inexorably  powerful.  _^  - 

11 


]3i8f^5T  Eep§)Ba 


„URING  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries, 
the  work  of  discovery  and  ex- 
ploration of  the  American 
Continent  was  pushed  with 
fervid  zeal  and  enthusiasm 
by  French  adventurers,  soldiers  and 
missionaries.  Jacques  Cartier,  a  Captain, 
of  St.  Malo,  under  commission  of  King 
Francis  I.,  left  with  two  vessels  on  the  20th  of  April, 
.  1534,  and  after  having  discovered  the  entrance  of  the 
estuary  of  the  St.  Lawrence  set  out  again  for  France. 
In  May  of  the  following  year,  the  St.  Malo  captain  left 
li  at  the  head  of  a  fleet  of  three  vessels,  and  during  this  ex- 
pedition extended  his  investigation  640  miles  from  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  I-awrence  to  Hochelaga  or  Montreal,  where  he 
found  "ploughed  lands  and  large  and  beautiful  plains  full  of  the 
corn  of  the  country."  Here,  Cartier,  collected  information  from 
the  Indians,  who  had  accorded  him  a  cordial  welcome,  about  the 
rapids  and  source  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  some  distant  water-falls. 
PYom  this  period  to  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  incidental 
reference  is  made  in  various  explorers'  accounts  to  the  existence  of 
the  Falls,  which  are  found  marked  down  on  several  maps,  but  no 

historical  mention  whatsoever  is  made. 

12 


■  y  3     I  ^  "■■ 

•  <"-.     .■■■'     '' 


_-'  / 


OBKRT  CAVALIER  DE  LA 

SALLE,  son  of  a  wealthy 
merchant  of  Rouen,  France, 
an  ambitious,  bold,  reso- 
lute young  man,  came  to 
'anada  in  the  spring  of  1666, 
and  stood  conspicuous  among 
the  most  adventurous  explorers  at 
that  time.  He  had  a  firm  belief  that  the 
Mississippi  river  emptied  southward  into  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  and  not  into  the  Pacific  ocean,  as 
stated  by  other  discoverers,  and  it  became  the  settled  purpose  of 
his  life  to  be  the  instrument  by  which  the  immense  territory  trib- 
utary to  its  waters  would  be  thrown  into  the  lap  of  France,  and 
extensive  commercial  relations  established. 

After  a  visit  to  King  Louis  XIV.,  who  granted  him  a  seign- 
ory  of  land  in  Canada  around  Ft.  Catarautjui,  and  the  order  of 
Knighthood,  La  Salle  on  his  return  rebuilt  the  fort,  which  he 
named  Frontenac,  with  massive  towers  of  stone,  then  took  steps 
to  place  another  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  river,  having 
obtained  reluctant  permission  from  the  Senecas  to  erect  it,  and 
also  to  build  a  vessel   above  the  Falls  of   Niagara.     This  vessel, 

14 


RouERT  Cavalier  I)e  La  Sali.e. 


named  the  Griffin,  launched  on  the  yth  of  August,  1679,  was  the 
first  to  navigate  the  lakes. 

Father  l.ouis  Hennepin,  a  Roman  Catholic  Missionary,  accom- 
panied La  Salle  in  his  explorations,  and  to  him  we  are  indebted 
for  the  first  description  of  the  wonderful  cataract  which  he  had 
visited  in  December,  1678.  His  work  is  entitled,  "A  New  Dis- 
covery of  a  Vast  Country  in  America,  extending  above  four 
thousand  miles,  between  New  France  and  New  Mexico,  with  a 
description  of  the  Great  Lakes,  Cataracts,  Rivers,  Plants  and 
Animals;  also  the  Manners,  Customs  and  Languages  of  the  sev- 
eral Native  Indians,  and  the  Advantages  of  Commerce  with  these 
different  Nations,  etc."  It  contains  many  wonderful  recitals, 
bearing  a  strong  impress  of  Indian  folk-lore  and  traditions, 
coupled  with  a  tendency  to  the  marvellous. 


■^Ht  Gift\??VH.' 


16 


ATHER  HENNEPIN  is  the  first  his- 
torian of  the  Falls,  and  a  few  excerpts 
from  his  account  prove  interesting 
reading,  even  at  this  date. 

"Betwixt  the  Lakes  Ontario  and 
Erie,  there  is  a  vast  and  prodigious 
cadence  of  water,  which  falls  down  after  a 
surprising  and  astounding  manner;  insomuch 
that  the  universe  does  not  afford  its  parallel. 
'Tis  true,  Italy  and  Suedland  boast  of  some 
such  things,  but  we  may  well  say  that  they 
are  but  sorry  ])atterns  when  compared  to  this 
of  which  we  now  speak.  At  the  foot  of  this 
horrible  precipice  we  meet  with  the  river  Niagara, 
'  which  is  not  above  a  cpiarter  of  a  league  broad, 
but  is  wonderfully  deep  in  some  places.  It  is  so  rapid  above  this 
descent  that  it  violently  hurries  down  the  wild  beasts  while  endeav- 
oring to  pass  it  to  feed  on  the  other  side,  they  not  being  able  to 
withstand  the  force  of  its  current,  which  inevitably  casts  them  head- 
long, above  six  hundred  feet  high. 

"  This  wonderful  downfall  is  compounded  of  two  great  cross 
streams  of  water  and  two  falls,  with  an  isle  sloping  along  the  middle 
of  it.  The  waters  which  fall  from  this  horrible  precipice  do.  foam 
and  boil  after  the  most  hideous  manner  imaginable,  making  an  out- 
rageous noise,  more  terrible  than  that  of  thunder. " 
8  17 


oo 


< 

u 

h 

(fa 
O 

X 


Weld's  Sketch  ov  Horse-Shoe  Falls,  1795. 


€]9I^RBMT^I\?G. 


'EN  years  later  I,a  Hontainc  substantially 
corroborates  the  statements  of  Hennepin. 
"As  for  the  waterfall  of  Niagara,  'tis  seven 
or  eight  hundred  feet  high  and  a  half  a 
league  broad.  Towards  the  middle  of  it 
we  descry  an  island,  that  leans  towards  the 
precipice  as  if  it  were  ready  to  fall.  All 
the  beasts  that  attempt  to  cross  the  waters 
within  half  a  (piarter  of  a  league  above  this 
unfortunate  island  are  sucked  in  by  the  stream.  They  serve  for 
food  for  the  Irocjuois,  who  take  them  out  of  the  water  with  their 
canoes.  Ik'tween  the  surface  of  the  water,  that  shelves  prodigiously, 
and  the  foot  of  the  precipice,  three  men  may  cross  it  abreast,  with- 
out any  other  damage  than  a  sprinkling  of  some  few  drops  of  water. " 
Charlevoix,  in  1 721,  gives  a  more  correct  approximation  of  the 
height  of  the  Falls.  "  For  my  own  part,"  he  writes,  "having  ex- 
amined it  on  all  sides,  where  it  could  be  viewed  to  the  greatest  ad- 
vantage, I  am  inclined  to  think  we  cannot  allow  it  less  than  one 
hundred  and  forty  or  fifty  feet. " 

Peter  Kalm,  a  famous  Swedish  botanist,  in  1 750,  notices  the  dis- 
appearance of  some  rocks  which  diverted  the  course  of  the  Horse- 
Shoe  Fall  at  the  Table  Rock,  forming  the  cross  Fall  indicated  by 
Hennepin. 

PiCQUET,  Weld,  Sutcliff  and  numerous  other  visitors  during 
the  eighteenth  century,  indicate  some  changes,  such  as  a  reduction 
in  the  number  of  cascades,   and  a  crumbling  away  of  the  rocky 

ledge,  and  constant  recession  of  the  Falls  m  consecjuence. 

20 


JIf)  Iit)i?6sii5g  Sgei^e. 


Edited. 


'/^j^N  the  sublimity    and    grandeur    which    attach    to 

the  irresistible  rush  and  leap    of    mighty  waters, 

Niagara  stands  alone,  matchless  and  unri\aled. 

From  the  rocks  at  the  base  of  the   American 

Y^' ^-^    Fall  unrolls  the  most  imposing  scene  the 

e  oi  man  will  ever  wiiness. 

The  long  column  of  sparkling  water 
seems  to  descend  to  an  immeasurable 
dei)th  upon  the  rocks,  the  immense  mass 
:s  into  spray,  a  tremendous  ghost  of  mist, 
ig  heavy  clouds,  ascends  to  the  heavens, 
right  sea-green  curve  above  has  the  ap- 
rance  of  being  let  into  the  sky,  through  the 
the  spray,  the  vast  line  of  the  Falls  looms 
ip  to  view.  A  sight  never  to  be  forgotten. 
In  the  quiet  hours  of  a  glorious  morning,  looking  now  up  to 
where  the  crown  of  the  Fall,  illuminated  by  the  early  sun,  shines 
like  opal,  now  downward  where  the  gray  mist  curls  u})  in  the  deep 
shadow,  or  across  the  chasm  which  seems  bridged  over  by  the  rain- 
bow, whose  feet  are  planted  by  the  American  shore,  while  its 
summit,  which  not  long  before  had  topped  the  height  of  the  C'anadian 
precipice, flinging  a  glory  over  the  bare  rocks  and  scanty  shrubbery, 
creeps  slowly  down,  as  the  sun  climbs  its  steep  way  up  the  eastern 
sky,  the  tremendous  power  and  magnificence  of  the  Falls  excites 
the  fullest  admiration  and  astonishment.    • 

22 


«^u 


Below  the  American  Fall. 


From  the  wall  of  waters,  every  spray-drop  gives  back  d. 
diamond — every  column  of  the  descending  element,  a  pillar  of 
silver — and  in  the  center  of  the  Horseshoe  Fall  the  bright  emerald 
of  the  deep  water,  curving  over  the  cliff,  reflects  rays  as  of  the  most 
brilliant  gems. 

If  there  were  gates  to  fairy-land  opening  from  this  world  of  ours, 
and  times  when  they  are  visible  and  recognizable  by  the  chance 
passing  eye  of  man,  one  would  believe  he  had  fallen  on  the  hour, 
and  that  some  inner  and  slowly  opening  portal  was  letting  the 
brightness  of  a  fairy  world  through  these  curtains  of  crystal.  And 
the  dark  waters  of  the  river  contrasting  with  the  foamy,  boiling  ap- 
pearance of  the  seething  caldron  at  the  foot  of  the  Falls,  the  tem- 
pestuous agitation  of  the  wild  currents,  and  the  storm  of  spray  and 
wind  seem  fitting  preludes  to  a  vision  of  the  Inferno,  thrown  into 
the  very  distant  back-ground  by  a  Hood  of  light  and  beauty. 

Tall  above  tower  and  tree  looms  thy  steeple  builded  of  sunshine, 
Mystical  steeple,  white,  like  a  cloud,  upyearning  toward  heaven, 
Till  into  cloud-land  it  drifts,  uprolliug  in  hill-tops  and  headlands. 
Catches  the  glory  of  sunset,  then  pales  into  rose-tint  and  purple. 


Who  in  bright  pignents  shall  match  the  luminous  sun-god  at  raid-day! 
Who  shall  dare  picture  in  words  the  turbulent  wrath  of  the  tempest ! 
Seeing,  I  can  but  stand  still,  with  finger  on  lip,  and  keep  silent. 

—Oeo.  IIougMon. 


24 


In  the  River,  below  the  Horse-Shoe  P^alls. 


Thy  forest  tines  are  fitter  coronal." 


fQBsy. 


"Tremen.lous  torrent!   tor  an  instant  l.ush 
Ibe  terrors  of  tliy  voice,  and  cast  aside 
Those  wide  involvinjjf  shadows,  that  my  eyes 
May  see  the  fearful  beauty  of  thy  face  I 

»  *  *  #  » 

Thou  tiowest  on  in  quiet,  till  thy  waves 
*3row  broken  'midst  the  rocl<8;  thj'  current  then 
Shoots  onwfird  like  the  irresistible  course 
Of  de.-tiny.    Ah,  terribly  they  rag-e,— 
The  hoarse  and  rapid  whirlpools  there  !    My  hrain 
Grows  wild,  my  sevses  wander,  as  I  gaze 
Uj-on  the  harryiny  waters;  and  my  sight 
Vainly  would  follow,  tis  toward  the  verge 
Sweeps  the  wide  torrent.     Waves  innumerable 
Meet  there  and  madden, — waves  innumerable 
Urge  on  and  overtake  the  waves  before. 
And  disappear  in  tlmnder  and  in  foam. 

27 


Toward  the  verge  sweeps  the  wide  torrent.' 


They  reach,  they  leap  the  l)arrier,— the  abyss 

Swallows  iuHutiaMe  th(!  slnkintr  waves. 

A  thouHuiul  raiiiliows  arch  them,  and  woods 

Are  deafened  with  the  roar.    The  vioNuit  shock 

Shatters  to  vapor  the  descending?  sheets. 

A  cloudy  whirlwind  lillH  tlie  ffiUf,  and  heaves 

The  niiffhty  pyramid  of  circling  mist 

To  heaven.  *  "  *  ^>    * 

What  seeks  my  restless  eye  5*    Why  are  not  here, 

About  the  jaws  of  this  abyss,  the  ])alii.s, — 

Ah,  the  delicious  palms,— that  on  the  [)luins 

Of  my  own  native  Cuba  spring  and  sjiread 

Their  thickly  foliaged  summits  to  the  sun, 

And,  in  the  breathings  of  the  ocean  uir 

Wave  soft  beneath  the  heaven's  unspolted  blue  ? 

But  no.  Niafi^ara, — thy  forest  pines 
Are  fitter  coronal  for  thee.    The  pulm, 
The  effeminate  myrtle  and  i)ale  rose  may  jifrow 
In  ffardens  and  give  out  their  frayrunce  there, 
Unmanning  him  who  breathes  it.     Tliine  it  is 
To  do  a  nobler  oftice.     Generous  minds 
Behold  thee,  and  are  moved  and  learn  to  rise 
Above  earth's  frivolous  pleasures;  they  partake 
Thy  grandeur  at  the  utterance  of  thy  name. 

***** 
Dread  torrent,  that  with  wonder  and  with  fear 
Dost  overwhelm  tlie  soul  of  him  who  looks 
Upon  thee,  and  d  st  bear  it  from  itself, — 
Whence  hast  thou  thy  beginning  ?    Who  supplies 
Age  after  age,  thj'  unexhausted  springs  V 
What  power  hath  ordered  that,  when  all  thy  weight 
De.scends  into  the  deep,  the  swollen  waves 
Rise  not  and  roll  to  overwhelm  tlie  earth  '? 

The  Lord  hath  opened  his  omnipotent  hand. 
Covered  thy  face  with  clouds  and  given  his  voice 
To  thy  down-rushing  waters:  he  hath  girt 
Thy  terrible  forehead  with  his  radiant  bow. 
I  see  thy  never-resting  waters  run. 
And  I  ))ethink  me  how  the  tide  of  time 
Sweeps  to  eternity. " 

Translated  from  the  Spanish  of  Maria  Josi'  Heredosia, 
by  WilUam  CuUcn  Bryant. 

30 


E;I^B7]TI\?E    pFJODlGe/lLITy. 


Rev.  Basconi. 


HAV  K  seen,  surveyed,  and  communed  with  the 
(s  whole  I — and,    awed  and    bewildered,    as    if  en- 
chanted l)efore  the  reveahnent  of  a  mystery,   I 
attempt  to  write.      Von  ask  me  in  your  hist  for  some 
detailed,  veritable  account  of  the  J'"alls,  and  I  should 
be  glad  io  gratify  you ;  but  how  shall  1  essay  to 
paint  a  scene  that  so  utterly  baffles  all  conception, 
and  renders  worse  than  fruitless  every  attempt  at 
description?     In  five  minutes  after  my  arrival, 
and  for  the  first  time  in    my  life,   I   saw    this 
uneciualed     cascade    from    Table    Rock;     the 
whole    indescribable    scene,    in    bold    outline, 
bursting  on  my  view  at  once.     I  had  heard  and 
read  much,   and  imagined  more,    of  what    was 
^/^^isrr-^S- '  n3   before  me.      I  was  perfectly  familiar   with    the 
^^t"©^"^        often-told,  the  far-travelled  story  of  what  I  saw; 
^^r^P^  -^^  but  the   overpowering    reality  on  which  I   was 

gazing,  motionless  as  the  rock  on  which  I  stood,  deprived  me  of 
recollection,  annihilated  all  curiosity;  and,  with  emotions  of  sub- 
limity, till  now  unfelt,  and  all  unearthly,  the  involuntary  exclama- 
tion escaped  me,  '^  God  of  grandeur^  lu/iat  a  scene i"  But  the 
majesty  of  the  sight,  and  the  interest  of  the  moment,  how  depict 
them  ?     The  huge  amplitude  of  water,    tumoling  in  foam  above, 

31 


I 


....*■   .." 


■ '-^.■.  -r  ^-tJ*?*  ■  ■"  'h^'^^^'^^^ 


-.J^r-Jf^^^:-;;:^-^ 


View  from  Railroad  Bridges. 


and  dashing  on,  arched  and  pillared  as  it  glides,  until  it  reaches 
the  precipice  of  the  chute^  and  then,  in  one  vast  column,  bound- 
ing, with  maddening  roar  and  rush,  into  the  depths  beneath, 
presents  a  spectacle  so  unutterably  appalling  that  language  falters; 
words  are  no  longer  signs,  and  I  despair  giving  you  any  adecpiate 
idea  of  what  I  saw  and  felt.  Yet  this  is  not  all.  The  eye  and  the 
mind  necessarily  take  in  other  objects,  as  parts  of  the  grand  pano- 
rama; forests,  cliffs,  and  islands;  banks,  foam  and  spray;  wood, 
rock,  and  precipice;  dimmed  with  the  rising  fog  and  mist,  and  ob- 
scurely gilded  by  the  softening  tints  of  the  rainbow.  These  all 
belong  to  the  picture;  and  the  effect  of  the  whole  is  immeasurably 
heightened  by  the  noise  of  the  cataract,  now  reminding  you  of  the 
reverberations  of  the  heavens  in  a  tempest,  and  then  of  the  eternal 
roar  of  ocean,  when  angered  by  the  winds. 

The  concave  bed  of  rock,  from  which  the  water  falls,  some  two 
hundred  feet,  into  the  almost  boundless  reservoir  beneath,  is  the 
section  of  a  circle,  which,  at  first  sight,  from  Table  Rock,  presents 
something  like  the  geometrical  curve  of  the  rainbow ;  and  the  wonders 
of  the  grand  Crescent,  thus  o.dvantageously  thrown  upon  the  eye  in 
combination,  and  the  appropriate  sensations  and  conceptions  height- 
ened by  the  crash  and  boom  of  the  waters,  render  the  sight  more  sur- 
passingly sublime  than  any  thing  I  have  ever  looked  upon  or  con- 
ceived of.  As  it  regards  my  thoughts  and  feeling  at  the  time,  I  can 
help  you  to  no  conception  of  their  character.  Overwhelming  as- 
tonishment was  the  only  bond  between  thought  and  thought;  and 
wild,  and  vague,  and  boundless,  were  the  associations  of  the  hour! 
Before  me  the  strength  and  fulness  of  the  congregated  "  lakes  of  the 
north"  were  enthroned  and  concentrated,  within  a  circumference 
embraced  by  a  single  glance  of  the  eye. 

Here  I  saw,  rolling  and  dashing,  at  the  rate  of  twenty-five 
hundred  millions  of  tons  per  day,  nearly  one-half  of  all  the  fresh 
water  upon  the  surface  of  the  globe!     On  the  American  side,  I 

3  33 


bi'luld  ;i  \;ist  (Kliigc,  nine  luiiulrcd  feet  in  breadth,  with  a  fall  of 
one  hiiiulrid  and  eighty  or  ninety,  met,  fifty  feet  al)()ve  the  K'\  el  of 
the  gulf,  by  a  huge  projection  of  ro(  k,  which  seems  to  l)reak  the 
descent  and  continuity  of  the  Hood,  only  to  increase  its  fierce  and 
overwhelming  bound.  And  turning  to  the  Oescent,  F  saw  the 
mingled  rush  of  foam  and  tide,  dashing  with  fearful  strife  and  des- 
perate emulation — four  hundred  yards  of  the  sheet  rough  and  sparry 
and  the  remaining  three  hundred  a  deep,  sea-like  mass  of  living 
green — rolling  and  heaving  like  a  sheet  of  emerald,  lu  en  imagina- 
tion failed  me;  and  I  could  think  of  nothing  but  ocean  let  loose 
from  his  bed,  and  seeking  a  deeper  gulf  below!  The  fury  of  the 
water,  at  the  termination  of  its  fall,  combined  with  the  columned 
strength  of  the  cataract,  and  the  deafening  thunder  of  the  Hood,  are 
at  once  inconceivable  and  indescribable.  No  imagination,  however 
creative,  can  correspond  with  the  grandeur  of  the  reality. 

I  have  already  mentioned,  and  it  is  important  that  you  keep  it 
in  \iew,  (he  ledge  of  rock,  the  verge  of  the  cataract,  rising  like  a 
wall  of  equal  height,  and  extending  in  semicircular  form  across  the 
whole  bed  of  the  river,  a  distance  of  more  than  two  thousand  feet; 
and  the  imi)etuous  llood,  conforming  to  this  arrangement,  in  making 
its  i)lunge,  with  mountain  weight,  into  the  great  Horseshoe  basin 
beneath,  exhibits  a  spectacle  of  the  sublime,  in  geograi)hical  scenery, 
without,  perhaps,  a  i)arallel  in  Nature.  As  I  leaned  over  Table 
Rock,  and  cast  my  eye  downward  upon  the  billowy  turbulence  of 
the  angry  de[)th,  where  the  waters  were  tossing  and  whirling,  coiling 
and  springing,  with  the  energy  of  an  earth(iuake,  and  a  rapidity  that 
almost  mocked  my  vision,  I  found  the  scene  sufficient  to  api)all 
a  sterner  spirit  than  mine;  and  I  was  glad  to  turn  away  and  relieve 
my  mind  by  a  sight  of  the  surrounding  scenery— bays,  islands, 
shores,  and  forests,  everywhere  receding  in  due  perspective.  The 
rainbows  of  the  Crescent  and  American  side,  which  are  only  visible 
from  the  western  bank  of  the  Niagara,  and  in  the  afternoon,  seem 

34 


^m^pW^ig^y^-wm'^^^^m 


fp^ff'  ■■ 


'/.■;.' 


■  •:%  ■:.  ■ 

•  •    V  •.,    •  ■'•... 

,.  t'   >  I.-;       '•    ' 


;• ! : 


'.■■/ 


7-s^/y:r^i^-:^ 


^<:.v^ 


; .  .  ... .,  .  ■      ._r«.  .  ^•:r,rr\fy,  ^ 


Centre  Fall  and  Rock  ok  Ages. 


to  diminish  somewhat  from  the  awfulness  of  the  scene,  and  to  give 
it  an  aspect  of  rich  and  mellow  grandeur,  not  unlike  the  bow  of 
promise,  throwing  its  assuring  radiance  over  the  retiring  waters  of 
the  deluge. 

The  "rapids,"  which  commence  nearly  a  mile  above  the  cataract, 
and,  sparkling  in  the  sun,  spread  out,  before  the  eye,  like  a  sea  of 
diamonds,  seem  admirably  to  give  notice  of  what  awaits  below;  and 
when  examined  from  a  i)osition  on  Goat  Island,  become  extremely 
interesting,  from  the  dash  and  foam  of  the  broken  flood,  the  noise 
of  which,  distinct  from  that  of  the  great  P'all,  would  remind  you  of 
the  lofty  murmurs  of  an  Alpine  forest,  in  the  rising  swell  of  the 
coming  storm.  In  crossing  the  river  below  the  Falls,  you  have  one 
of  the  richest  views  of  the  whole  cascade  that  can  possibly  be  im- 
agined; and  the  rising  bank  and  mossy  rock^  the  lofty  trees  and 
luxuriant  shrubbery  on  either  side,  are  in  fine  keeping  with  the 
scene,  and  are  essential  to  the  unity  and  completeness  of  the 
picture.  But  w^hat  most  interested  me  here,  was  the  tumultuous 
tossing  and  whirling  of  the  water.  The  whole  mass  seems  to  be 
heaving  with  infuriate  life.  A  thousand  counter  currents  and  eddies 
meet,  break,  and  mingle,  in  the  general  "torrent  and  whirlwind" 
of  the  waters. 

But  the  most  appalling  combination  of  wonder  and  awe  was  felt, 
when,  after  descending  the  spiral  staircase  at  Table  Rock,  I  passed 
under  the  great  falling  sheet.  Divesting  myself  of  the  more  burden- 
some part  of  my  clothes,  and  gir  ling  an  oil-cloth  mantle  about  me, 
with  a  hood  for  the  protection  of  the  head,  I  entered  the  hollow 
space,  half  luminous,  half  obscure,  between  the  projecting  rock  and 
the  boundless  mass  of  water  pouring  over  its  arch,  like  a  sea  of 
molten  lead.  In  this  way  I  proceeded  one  hundred  and  fifty  or 
sixty  feet,  to  "  Termination  Rock, "  a  point  beyond  which  no  human 
being  has  ever  penetrated;  and  here,  amid  a  tempest  of  wind  and 

spray,  almost  depriving  me  of  respiration^  I  paused  to  look  up  and 

36 


Old  Terrapin  Tower  and  American  Rapids. 


around,  awed  and  agitated  by  the  stirring  grandeur  and  sombre 
mysteriousness  of  all  I  could  hear  or  see ! 

The  edge  of  the  i^recipice,  over  which  the  water  falls,  is  a  pro- 
jection of  about  fifty  feet  over  the  base  where  I  stood.  After 
remaining  here  for  several  minutes,  and  selecting  some  i)el)l)les  from 
the  path  at  my  feet,  with  an  increased  sense  of  danger,  I  effected 
my  retreat,  sincerely  thankful,  that  I  had  not  purchased  the  gratifi- 
cation of  my  curiosity  with  the  loss  of  my  life.  I  s])ent  four  days 
and  nights,  \\ith  the  exception  of  a  few  hours  for  rest,  in  the  exami- 
nation of  the  Falls,  and  in  solitude  with  the  majesty  of  the  engross- 
ing -^cene — a  majesty  all  its  own  —  untyped  and  unshadowed  by 
aught  I  had  e\cr  seen  before;  and  having  surveyed  the  great  object 
of  my  visit  from  nearly  a  hundred  different  points  of  view,  I  was 
more  than  satisfied  that  the  cataract  of  Niagara  is  a  wonder  in 
nature,  wholly  uniciue  in  its  kind,  and  affording  a  rich,  if  not  an 
une([ualed  harvest  of  interest  and  observation,  to  every  beholder. 
Indeed,  Nature  seems  to  have  done  her  work  here  in  a  mood  and 
upon  a  scale  of  the  most  creative  prodigality;  consulting. alike^  as 
the  pagan  poet  would  say,  "her  own  amusement  and  the  admiration 
of  man. '' 


;{s 


QE^E^Jlh  I^Q^EE. 


H  E  boundary  line  between  the  United 
States  and  the  Dominion  of  Canada  runs 
in  the  center  of  the  deepest  water  of  the 
Niagara  river,  reaching  from  Lake  Erie  to 
Lake  Ontario,  and  36  miles  in  length.  Its 
level  above  the  sea  is  564  feet  and  above 
Lake  Ontario  334,  which,  of  course,  is 
the  descent  it  makes  to  the  latter.  The  descent 
from  Lake  Erie  to  Schlosser  is  12  feet;  at  the  rapids,  52  feet;  at 
the  Cataract,  164  feet;  from  this  point  to  Lewiston,  104  feet;  thence 
to  Lake  Ontario,  2  feet.  At  the  head  of  Grand  Island  it  branches 
out  into  two  streams,  measuring  8  miles  across;  opposite  Schlosser 
it  is  nearly  3  miles;  at  the  Falls  three-quarters  of  a  mile  in  width; 
at  the  Ferry,  56  rods  wide;  at  the  Whirlpool,  750  yards.  Its  depth 
varies  in  dififerent  places,  from  75  to  300  feet. 

The  quantity  of  water  precipitated  over  the  Falls  is  estimated  at 
100  million  tons  per  hour.  It  is  the  great  drain  of  the  lakes  Superior, 
Michigan,  Huron,  and  Erie,  with  all  the  rivers  flowing  into  them. 

The  American  Fall  is  about  900  feet  in  breadth,  and  the  water 
descends  over  a  cliff  164  feet  in  height.  The  Horse-Shoe  is  about 
1800  feet  in  breadth,  and  descends  over  cliffs  of  158  feet  in  depth. 

An  opinion  is  generally  entertained  that  the  Falls  were  once 
located  at  the  heights  of  Queenston,  and  that  they  have  receded 
gradually.  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  a  learned  geologist,  states  it  to  be 
his  conviction,  that  the  Falls  recede  about  one  foot  in  the  year; 
that  probably  they  remained  stationery  for  many  years  at  the  whirl- 
pool, and  that  it  took  15,000  years  to  bring  them  where  they  now 

40 


are.  Of  late  years,  since  they  have  been  more  closely  observed, 
there  has  been  some  change  in  their  shape,  slight  variations  con- 
stantly occurring. 

Some  even  assert  that  within  the  memory  of  men  of  this  genera- 
tion the  actual  recession  has  been  more  than  too  feet.  This,  how- 
ever, is  not  substantiated  by  any  jiroofs  that  can  be  verified,  and 
must  be  accepted  "cum  grano  sa/is." 

The  roaring  of  the  Cataract,  in  favorable  states  of  the  wind  and 
atmosphere,  is  heard  at  great  distances.  Along  the  course  of  the 
river,  it  is  asserted,  the  sound  is  perceptible  at  a  distance  of  14 
miles.  Yet  it  is  scarcely  heard  within  the  precincts  of  the  Falls, 
above,  and  at  a  little  distance  from  them.  The  concussion  of  the 
atmosphere  is  such,  however,  that  the  windows  in  the  buildings  near 
the  Falls  keep  up  a  continuous  rattling,  and  the  tremor  can  be  felt 
very  sensibly  at  times. 

The  word  Niagara  is  of  Indian  origin,  and  is  variously  interpreted 
to  mean  "  T/ie  Thunder  of  Waters, "  "  Thunderiug  Waters, "  or  "  T/ie 
Thunderer  of  the  Waters.  " 

The  shores  of  Niagara  river  have  been  the  theater  of  numerous 
sanguinary  actions;  the  possession  of  its  borders  having  been  dis- 
puted in  turn  by  the  French  and  Indians,  English  and  French, 
Americans  and  Indians,  and  later  on  British  and  Americans. 

Every  change  of  season,  weather  and  light,  imparts  some  peculiar 
aspect  to  the  extraordinary  scene.  The  rising  sun  gilds  the  edges 
of  the  cataract,  and  illuminates  the  upper  banks,  with  their  wild 
crests  of  overhanging  trees.  The  lofty  column  of  mist,  which  for- 
ever stands  like  a  cloud  over  this  scene  of  noise  and  fury,  is  some- 
times dark  as  a  storm-cloud,  but  more  fret^uently  of  a  snowy 
whiteness,  and  illuminated  and  painted  by  rainbows,  whose  arches 
vary,  in  their  position  and  direction,  with  the  course  of  the  sun. 
Night  casts  a  tone  of  majesty  over  the  scene — the  wonderful  effects 
of  the  lunar  bows  being  specially  interesting  to  witness. 

41 


■  Jaiwui— I 


W:: 


\  Wv:^ 


■V  ^-" ■■/";//> ''?tv5  •"■if";    v  •  : 


;.%::  ■;     ..;'V  ■:.;l»i.' 


^^ 


■"  _j^^ 


^z*^-^ 


Igicles. 


S' 


111  Its 


CENl^S  of  unsurpassing  beauty  arc 
presented  by  the  Cataract  of  Niagara 
in  winter.  The  trees  are  covered  with 
the  most  brilHant  and  sparkUng  corusca- 
tions of  snow  and  ice;  the  islands,  the 
shrubs,  the  giant  rocks,  are  robed  in  the 
same  spotless  vesture.  I""ro/en  spray, 
glittering  and  gleaming  as  brightly  and 
\  ivaciously  as  frozen  sunlight,  encases  all 
things  ;  Niagara  Falls  is  the  absolute 
dominion  of  the  Ice  King.  In  bright 
sunshine,  the  Hashing  rays  from  millions 
of  gems  produce  a  bewitching  effect. 

Upon  the  occurrence  of  a  thaw  suf- 
ficient to  break  uj)  the  ice  in  Lake  lOrie, 
masses  of  lloating  ice,  dissevered  from 
the  frozen  lake  and  stream  above,  are 
|)recipitated  over  the  Falls  in  blocks 
of  several  tons  each.  These  remain  at 
the  foot  of  the  cataract,  from  the  stream 
being  closed  below,  and  form  a  natural 
bridge  across  it.  As  they  accumulate, 
they  get  progrcssi\  c!v  ])iled  up,  like  a 
Cyclo[)ean  wall,  built  of  huge  blocks  of 
ice  instead  of  stone.  This  singular  mason- 
ry of  nature  gets  cemented  by  the  spray, 
which  rising  in  clouds  of  mist  as  usual 
from  the  foot  of  the  Falls,  attaches  itself 
upward  progress  to  the  icy  wall,  filling  up  the  interstices. 

4;{ 


Llna  Island's  Wintry  (Jaku. 


GpfLLiir)G  pORD^GE. 


The  lue  Bridvie. 


V'/f^  I-ORIOUS  art  thou  In  thy  honcLajre  Ktill, 

V:.^Y   ■^'''""  ^'P  inujoHtic  'mid  tho  fettfired  Hoods! 
( ^  Vl>^     I'o*'  ^^"^^  ^'""t  tower  like  wnow-ciud  mountains  hi^'h, 
v:!d^  c2  Whose  phicier-tops  with  avalanche  unmoved, 
Defy  tlio  sun  to  melt  their  frozen  erowns, 
That  steel  the  radiance  of  tlie  earliest  dawn, 
And  shine  with  eyes  that  rival  e'en  the  staiH! 
I  see  thee  sittinj?  like  a  Koman  chief 
Upon  his  curule  chair  in  f(,ruMi  halls, 
Looking  with  (juick  and  idercinj,'' u:lance  around, 
While  lictors  frontward  stand,  his  hody-<ruari!. 
With  threatening  fasces  to  enforce  his  word ; 
Or  like  an  army  filed  in  Ijold  array, 
With  nmskcits  hriyht  and  l)ristlin<>'  bayonets, 
That  daze  the  foeman's  eyes  which  miss  th*  ir  aim. 

I  have  looked  up  on  tall  ancestral  piles 

Of  Gothic  architecture  framed  by  art. 

With  marble  quarried  from  th»»  wliitened  rock, 

That  lifted  hi«,''h  their  turrets  in  the  liyht, 

And  poin  ed  many  sharpened  spires  above. 

With  ru{i<i(;d  front  and  visaf,'-es  all  carved 

In  purposed  rudeness  imitatinfjr  life.     ■• 

And  now  I  seem  thus  looking  up  to  thee, 

Thou  frost  built  prison  of  the  captured  flood! 

What  solemn  awe  and  what  emotions  deej), 

Of  s^raiideur  and  sublimity  arise 

Within  my  wonderint?  soul  at  sight  of  thee ! 

Now  like  a  Switzer  huntsman  on  the  Alps, 

With  sandaled  foot  and  iron-pointed  staff, 

I  traverse  here  the  pathway  of  thy  tide. 

All  strongly  paved  with  massive  blocks  of  ice !  ! 

Down  steep  declivities,  whose  sharpened  sides  < 

With  jutting  icicles  oppose  my  steps,  I 

I  pass  securely  though  with  beating  heart; 

Across  the  clefts  by  thy  convulsions  formed,  v 

1  leap  along  nor  see  the  chasm  below !  ■ 

O'er  towering  peaks  whose  craggy  ascents  tire,  I 

I  slowly  creep  with  clinging  hand  and  foot;  \ 

Now  up  thy  steep,  while  deaf  to  caution's  voice,  i 

I  mount  unwearied,  heeding  not  the  threat,  J' 

Thou  thunderest  forth  behind  these  ponderous  walls,  )i 

In  smothered  tones  like  those  of  mutitied  drums !        '  t 

— licv.   BuUdru. 
45  ^ 


The  Ice  Mounjaix — 18S3 


i\Mi:RlCAN    I'Al.L — LEAI'ING    RoCK — GOA T    IsLAND    TuLL   GATE. 


or 

NilAEAKA  V'"' 


BuNNiMS^PNrns. 


"in/|;^i 


PER  RAPHES  :'^^^ 

TDi  THE  ■^^'s'J.m-N^'-V 


'fVK. 


fK-MiWV. 


vrt** 


W  lit IKL  (KU  ML, , ,  ;g»  ■■■  rv  S^^'li*' ''•^" 


V*   •'    fMI   ftMNtJ. 


V:^ 


^^':- 


I  PICT 


NSWIfk'flOTEL 


--''X-^'f2^-^: 


HON    HRIOSC' 


Whirlpool 


Grtiro  Yq^^ 


now,  kind  reader,  if  you  will  follow 
)ilgrim    in  liis  rambles,  he  will  guide 
to  every    point  of   interest    rounda- 
ts.      The    distances  from  either   the 
depots  or  hotels  to  the  most  inter- 
esting points  on  the  American  side 
ficant.      Following  the  main  street,  we 
two  or  three  blocks  of  the  islands  and 

Our  first  steps  are  directed  towards  Goat  Island  group, 
composed  of  a  number  of  islets  studding  the  river,  ])esides 
the  main  island  which  divides  the  Horse-shoe  and  American  Falls. 

A  veFy  few  moments  bring  us  to  the  toll-gate  of 
GOAT  ISLAND  BRIDGE. 

This  structure  is  remarkable  from  the  fact  that  it  spans  one  of 
the  most  turbulent  of  any  known  rapids.  It  was  first  built  as  a  frail 
wooden  structure  in  1817,  by  Judge  Porter,  and  was  soon  carried 
away.  It  was  replaced  by  a  stronger  one,  which  stood  from  18 18  to 
1856,  when  it  was  removed,  and  the  present  elegant  structure 
substitut'"!.  The  foundations  are  heavy  oaken  cribs,  filled  with 
stone  and  plated  with  iron.  The  bridge  itself  is  of  iron,  in  four 
arches,  each  of  ninety  feet  span,  making  a  total  length  of  three 
hundred  and  sixty  feet.     Its  width  is  twenty-seven  feet,  comprising 

4  49 


VlliWS    UN    I.INA    1>1,AM>. 


a  double  carriage-way,  with  foot-way  on  either  side.  Here  is  the 
finest  lookout  on 

THE  AMERICAN   RAPIDS  ABOVE  THE  FALLS, 

which  viewed  from  this  point  ])resent  the  ajjpearance  of  plunging 
from  the  sky,  but  only  a  prelude  to  the  wild  scenes  further  on.  The 
scene  is  one  of  unusual  wildness  and  weird  beauty.  Like  the  mem- 
orable bride  and  groom  in  Howell's  Wedding  Journey  we  ])ause 
and  look  "  up  and  down  the  rapids  rushing  down  the  slope  in  all 
their  wild  variety,  with  the  white  crests  of  breaking  surf,  the  dark 
massiveness  of  heavy-climbing  waves,  the  fleet,  smooth  svvee[)  of 
currents  over  broad  shelves  of  sunken  rock,  the  dizzy  swirl  and  suck 

of  whirlpools. " 

SHIP  AND   BRIG   ISLANDS 

Stem  the  current  a  little  above  the  bridge  and  are  two  small  wooded 

isles  of  rare  beauty.     It  needs  but  little  effort  of  the  imagination  to 

fancy  them  vessels  under  full  press  of  sail,  endeavoring  to  sheer  out 

of  the  current  that  hurries  them  inevitably  down.     Ship  Island  was 

once  accessible  by  a  bridge  connecting  it  with  Bath  Island.     It  was 

swept  away  and  has  not  been  rebuilt. 

BATH   ISLAND, 

one  of  the  group  of  islands  which  stud  the  rapids  upon  the  American 
side,  above  the  cataract,  is  the  first  on  our  way.  It  contains  about 
two  acres,  and  its  former  scenes  of  loveliness  have  disappeared  to 
make  room  for  the  various  buildings  and  sheds  of  a  large  paper-mill. 
Looking  down  the  river  are  several  small  islets,  the  first  two  of  which 
are  named  Chapin  and  Robinson  Island. 

CHAPIN  ISLAND 

received  its  name  from  that  of  a  workman  who  fell  into  the  rapids 

while  repairing  the  Goat  Island  bridge,  was  hurled  to  its  shores,  and 

notwithstanding  the  imminent  peril  of  the  undertaking  was  rescued 

by  Joel  R.  Robinson. 

ROBINSON  ISLAND 

is  named  after  the  intrepid  navigator  of  Niagara's  troubled  waters, 
whose  brave  feats  of  daring  in  rescuing  life  and  property  should 
immortalize  his  name. 

Crossing  by  a  bridge  of  a  single  span  at  the  south  end  of  Bath 
Island,  we  are 

52 


Nicholas  Biddle  and  Middle's  Stairs. 


ON    GOAT    ISLAND, 

into  a  shady  forest,  almost  in  its  primeval  simpli.::ity,  a  most  lovely 
and  romantic  spot  of  ground,  affording  a  cool  retreat  in  summer 
from  the  noon-day  heat,  beneath  the  dense  foliage  of  trees  abound- 
ing there,  upon  the  trunks  of  which  are  inscribed  various  names  and 
dates  showing  that  visits  were  here  made  as  early  as  1769.  It  was, 
in  ancient  times,  one  of  the  favorite  burying-grounds  of  the  Indians. 
It  owes  its  singular  name  to  the  fact  that  some  goats  placed  there  to 
pasture  in  1779.  perished  from  the  cold  during  the  ensuing  winter. 
This  island,  forming  on  one  side  a  part  of  the  precipice,  commences 
near  the  head  of  the  Rapids  almost  in  the  center  of  the  river,  divid- 
ing it  so  as  to  form  the  two  main  portions  of  the  Falls.  It  covers 
an  extent  of  t^venty  acres. 

On  reaching  the  Island  we  have  taken  the  first  road  leading  to 
the  right  and  arriv'*^  at  the  northwest  part,  upon  a  narrow  ridge, 
called  from  its  shape 

HOG'S  BACK, 
from  which  we  gain  one  of  the  finest  views  of  the  American  Falls. 
Right  in  front  is  the  small  Center  Fall,  and  the  foot-bridge  which 
leads  to  Luna  Island,  with  its  dwarfed  and  stunted  trees;  beyond  is 
the  serrated  line  of  the  American  Falls;  while  the  distance  is  filled 
up  with  the  receding  lines  of  the  banks  of  the  river  below. 

Descending  the  steps  in  front  of  us,  we  cross  a  pretty  and  sub- 
stantial bridge  over  the  stream  that  forms  the  Center  Fall  and  land 

upon 

LUNA   ISLAND, 

a  pleasant  little  islet  well  worthy  of  a  visit.  Its  name  came  to  it  in 
connection  with  the  weird  and  pleasing  ai)pearance  of  the  Lunar 
bows,  visible  there.  From  its  northwestern  point  the  sight  of  the 
many  rainbows  playing  hide  and  seek  over  the  foamy  waters,  min- 
gling their  radiant  colors  with  the  brilliant  silvery  tinges  of  the  spray 
at  the  foot  of  the  Fall,  is  a  most  delightful  one. 

THE  THREE   PROFILES 

are  an  irregular  projection  of  that  portion  of  the  precipice  which  is 
formed  by  the  west  side  of  Luna  Island,  and  are  almost  under  the 
American    Fall.     They  obtain    their  name  from  their   remarkable 
-likeness  to  three  human  faces. 

51 


Entrance  to  the  Cave  of  the  Winds. 


THE  CENTER   FALL, 

over  which  we  pass  on  our  way  to  and  from  (ioat  Island,  although 
a  mere  ribbon  of  white  water  when  seen  from  a  short  distance  in 
contrast  with  the  (Jreat  Falls,  is  by  no  means  unworthy  of  notice. 
It  is  I  CO  feet  wide,  and  a  very  graceful  sheet  of  water.  A  few  paces 
bring  us  to  the  entrance  of 

BIDDLE'S  STAIRS, 

erected  in  1829,  by  Mr.  Biddle,  president  of  the  United  States  bank. 
They  are  firmly  secured  to  the  cliff,  quite  safe,  and  80  feet  high. 
The  total  descent  from  the  top  of  the  bank  to  the  bottom  is  185 
feet.  From  these  stairs  Sam  Patch  made  his  famous  leap  into  the 
river,  from  a  platform  extending  across  the  slopy  cliff  and  came  out 
unharmed.  Descending  the  stairs  we  take  the  pathway  to  the  right, 
and  having  previously  donned  a  water-proof  dress  are  prejiared  for 
a  visit  to 

THE  CAVE  OF  THE  WINDS, 

which  lies  behind  the  Center  Fall.  The  Cave  is  100  feet  high  by 
100  deep  and  160  long,  and  its  existence  is  due  to  the  action  of  the 
waters  upon  the  shale,  leaving  the  more  solid  limestone  rock  over- 
hanging. A  visitor,  whose  impressions  appeared  in  Harper's  Maga- 
zine years  ago,  gives  a  most  graphic  description  :  '"Close  by  the 
entrance  you  look  down  into  an  abyss  of  cold  gray  mist,  driven  ever 
and  anon  like  showers  of  hail  into  your  face,  as  you  grope  your  way 
down  the  rocky  slope.  Haste  not,  pause  not.  Here  is  the  plat- 
form, half  seen,  half  felt  amid  the  blinding  spray.  Shade  of  Father 
Hennepin,  this  is  truly  a  'dismal  roaring'  of  wind  and  water.  We 
are  across — and  stand  secure  on  the  smooth  shaly  bottom  of  the 
cave.  Look  up!  what  a  magnificent  arch  is  formed  by  the  solid 
rock  on  the  one  side,  and  the  descending  mass  of  water  on  the 
other.  Which  is  the  solider  and  firmer  you  hardly  know.  Yet  look 
again — for  it  is  sunset — and  see  what  we  shall  see  nowhere  else  on 
earth,  three  rainbows  one  within  another,  not  half-formed  and 
incomplete,  as  is  the  scheme  of  our  daily  life;  but  filling  up  the 
complete  circle,  perfect  and  absolute. "  By  means  of  some  bridges 
thrown  over  the  rocks  in  front  of  the  cave  a  magnificent  view  can 
be  had  of  the  Center  Fall. 

56 


1 


Pilgrimage  UiNuer  the  Fall, 


THE  ROCK  OF  AGES 

is  the  huge  rock  lying  at  the  foot  of  the  l"'alls  in  front  of  the  Cave 
of  tlie  Winds. 

l-'rom  the  foot  of  the  staircase,  the  i)ath  to  the  left  leads  toward 
the  llorse-Shoe  Fall,  i'ortions  of  the  rock  fall  occasionally,  and 
the  road  is  but  little  used,  and  not  kept  in  good  condition;  still,  one 
is  well  repaid  for  an  attempt  to  get  a  close  sight  of  the  (Ireat  l""all 
from  below. 

Returning  to  the  bank  above,  and  continuing  the  walk  along 
the  brink,  the  next  interesting  point  of  observation  is 

TERRAPIN    BRIDGE, 

leading  to  the  edge  of  the  Horse-Shoe  I''all  and  the  Terrapix  Rocks, 
where  for  forty  years  the  well-known  'i'F.RRAFix  Towkr,  standing  at 
the  very  verge  of  the  Falls,  constituted  a  land  mark  to  be  seen  from 
all  directions.  The  bridge,  being  so  near  the  Fall  as  to  be  aftected 
by  the  spray,  recfuires  that  those  who  pass  over  it  should  avoid 
exposure.  'I'he  water  at  this  extremity  of  the  Fall  descends  in  light 
feathery  foam,  contrasting  finely  with  the  solid  masses  in  which  it 
seems  to  plunge  down  the  center  of  the  sweeping  curve.  The  line 
of  division  between  the  government  of  the  ITnited  States  and  that 
of  Canada  is  in  the  deepest  part  of  the  channel,  or  through  the 
angular  part  of  tlie  I'"all.  It  passes  through  the  lonely  little  Gufj. 
Fsi.AND  in  the  center  of  the  river,  which  has  ne\er  been  trodden  by 
human  foot. 

Anthony  TroUope,  after  a  visit  to  this  point,  gives  his  impressions 
as  follows:  "The  line  of  the  ledge  bends  inwards  against  the  Hood, 
— in,  and  in,  and  in,  till  one  is  led  to  think  that  the  depth  of  that 
horse-shoe  is  immeasurable.  It  has  been  cut  with  no  stinting  hand. 
A  monstrous  canlle  has  been  worn  back  out  of  the  centre  of  the 
rock,  so  that  the  fury  of  the  waters  converges,  and  the  spectator  as 
he  gazes  into  the  hollow  with  wishful  eyes  fancies  that  he  can  hardly 
trace  out  the  center  of  the  abyss." 

"(io  down  to  the  end  of  that  wooden  bridge,  seat  yourself  on  the 
rail,  and  there  sit  till  all  the  outer  world  is  lost  to  you.  There  is  no 
grander  si)ot  about  Niagara  than  this.  The  waters  are  absolutely 
around  you.  If  you  have  the  i)ower  of  eye-control  which  is  so 
necessary  to  the  full  enjoyment  of  scen<.'ry  \'ou  w  ill  see  nothing  but 


Horse-Shoe  Fall  from  Goat  Island. 


the  water.      V'oii  will  certainly  hear  nothing  else;  and  the  sound,  I 

beg  you  to  remember,  is  not  an  ear-cracking,  agonizing  crash  and 

clang  of  noises;  but  is  melodious,  and  soft  withal,  though  loud  as 

thunder.      It  llils  your  ears,  and  as   it  were  envelopes  them,  but  at 

the  same  time  you  can  speak   to   your  neighbor  without  an  effort. 

]Jut  at    this  place,  and  in  these   moments,  the  less  of  speaking,  I 

should  say,  the  better.      There  is  no  grander  spot  than  this.     Here, 

seated  on  the  rail  of  the  bridge,  you  will  not  see  the  whole  dei)th  of 

the  f^ili.     In  looking  at  the  grandest  works  of  nature,  and  of  art  too, 

I  fancy,  it  is  never  well  to  see  all.     There  should  be  something  left 

to  the  imagination,  and  much  should  be  half  concealed  in  mystery. 

The  greatest   charm  of  a  mountain  range  is  the  wild  feeling  that 

there    must    be  strange  unknown   desolate  worlds  in   those  far-otif    5c; 

valleys  beyond.     And  so  here,  at  Niagara,  that  converging  rush  of    | 

waters  may  fall  down,  down  at  once  into  a  hell  of  rivers  for  what    | 

the  eye  can  see.     It  is  glorious  to   watch  them  in  their  first  curve    | 

over  the  rocks.     They  come  green  as  a  bank  of  emeralds;  but  with    (^;l 

a  fitful  flying  color,  as  though  conscious  that  in  one  moment  more    [^ 

they  would  be  dashed  into  spray  and  rise  into  air,  pale  as  driven     » 

snow.     The  vapor  rises  high  into  the  air,  and  is  gathered  there,     lij 

.  .  .  'Vi 

visible  always  as  a  permanent  white   cloud  over  the  cataract;  but     | 

the  bulk  of  the  spray  which  fills  the  lower  hollow  of  that  horse-shoe  | 

is  like  a  tumult  of  snow.     This  you  will  not  fully  see  from  your  seat  -; 

on  the  rail.     The  head  of  it  rises  ever  and  anon  out  of  that  caldron  3 

below,  but  the   caldron  itself  will  be  invisible.     It    is  ever  so  far  i; 

down, — far  as   your  own  imagination  can  sink  it.     But   your  eyes  | 

will  rest  full  upon  the  curve  of  the  waters.     The  shape  you  will  be  I 

looking  at  is  that  of  a  horse-shoe,  but  of  a  horse-shoe  miraculously  | 

deep  from  toe  to  heel  ;-r-and  this  depth  becomes  greater  as  you  sit  1 

there.     That  which  at  first  was  only  great  and  beautiful,  becomes  I 

gigantic  and  sublime  till  the  mind  is  at  loss  to  find  an  epithet  for  its  \ 

own  use.     To  realize  Niagara  you  must  sit  there  till  you  see  nothing  \ 

else  than  that  which  you  have  come  to  see.      You  will  hear  nothing  | 

else,  and  think  of  nothing  else.     At  length  you  will  be  as  one  with  ; 

the  tumbling  river  before  you.     You  will  find  yourself  among  the  \ 

waters  as  though  you  belonged  to  them.     The  cool  licpiid  green  will 

run  through  your  veins,  and  the  voice  of  the  cataract  will  be  the 

60 


•-^ 


Views  on  Three  Sisters  Islands. 


expression  of  your  own  heart.  Yon  will  fall  as  tlir  hrij^ht  waters 
fall,  rushing  down  into  your  new  worUl  with  no  hesitation  and  with 
no  disnia\';  and  yon  will  rise  again  as  the  spray  rises,  l)right,  heau- 
tifid,  and  pure.  Then  yon  will  Mow  away  in  your  course  to  the 
unconipassed,  distant,  and  eternal  ocean." 

l-'ollowing  a  road  along  the  south  side  of  the  Island,  affording  an 
unsurpassed  view  of  the  Canadian  Rapids,  which  run  at  the  rate  of 
28  miles  per  hour,  we  come  to  the 

THREE  SISTERS   ISLANDS, 

connected  with  (loat  Island  and  with  one  another  by  three  beauti- 
fid  bridges,  and  under  each  llounders  a  huge  rapid.  Their  location 
in  the  midst  of  the  Kapids  aflbrd  many  varieil  and  desirable  points 
to  observe  the  scenery.  I''rom  the  head  of  the  Third  Sister  a  con- 
tinuous lascade  extending  toward  the  Canada  shore  as  far  as  the 
eye  can  reach,  and  from  which  the  spray  rises  in  beautiful  clouds, 
presents  a   peculiar  phenomenon  usually  termed  the 

LEAPING   ROCK, 

doubtlessly  a  misnomer.  'I'he  water  striking  against  the  rock  rises 
per[)etually  in  an  unbroken  column,  twenty  or  more  teet  high,  pro- 
ducing a  brilliant  etifect. 

.At  the  west  end  of  the  Third  Sister  island  stands  a  clump  of  vine- 
tangled  woods  |)lanted  upon  a  mass  of  rocks  sei)arate(l  by  a  swift- 
rushing,  narrow  current  not  yet  bridged  over,  and  called  by  some 

THE    LITTLE    BROTHER. 

Spanned  by  the  Mrst  Sister  Island  Bridge,  and  a  rare  and  at- 
tractive Fall  is 

THE   HERMIT'S  CASCADE, 

a  pictiwescpie  spot.  it  was  one  of  the  favorite  resorts  of  the 
Hermit  of  the  I'alls,  Francis  Abbott,  a  young  ICnglishman,  who  for 
years  lived  a  solitary  life  at  Niagara.  His  reason  for  leading  this  life 
was  never  known.  He  was  drowned  while  bathing  near  the  foot  of 
the  Inclined  railway,  in  1831.  His  body  was  recovered,  and  is 
buried  in   Oakwood  Cemetery,  Niagara  Falls. 

AT  THE   HEAD  OF  GOAT   ISLAND, 

a  little  further  uj)  the  river,  the  view  is  (piite  expansive,  command- 
ing both  banks  of  the  stream,  and  the  islands  in  the  channel.     Be- 

G2 


The  Spring  on  Goat  Island, 


ginning  at  the  right,  the  site  of  Fort  Schlosser  is  seen  about  a 
mile  away,  marked  by  a  small  white  building  and  a  very  large  chim- 
ney. The  town  of  Chipi)ewa  on  the  Canada  shore,  (Jrand  Island, 
Navy  Islaiid,  etc.,  are  all  visible  from  this  point. 

We  leave  with  reluctanee  this  most  fascinating  spot,  of  which 
Mrs.  Sigourney  wrote  :  "  It  is  an  unsjjeakable  luxury  here  to  sit 
in  solitarv  meditation,  at  once  lulled  and  solemnized  bv  the  near 
voice  of  the  everlasting  torrent.  It  seems  the  most  fascinating  of 
all  the  haunts  in  tliis  vicinity;  the  one  where  we  earliest  linger  and 
latest  depart.  We  take  leave  of  it,  as  a  being  of  intelligence  to  whom 
we  have  given  our  heart.  It  has  shielded  us,  when  our  senses  were 
awe-stricken  and  overpowered,  like  the  cliff  where  the  prophet  was 
hidden  when  that  Majesty  passed  l>y  which  none  can  'see  and  live.'  " 
On  our  way  back  to  the  bridge  a  short  stop  at 

THE   SPRING, 
a  delicious  little  nook  at  the  foot  of  the  bank,  from  which  a  mag- 
nificent view  is  had  of  the  American  Rapids  from  their  very  edge. 

A  writer  who  was  at  the  I^'alis  one  hundred  years  ago,  explains 
how  the  island  was  then  visited.  "To  go  down  to  this  island  it  is 
necessary  to  set  off  at  some  distance  above  Chippewa,  where  the 
current  is  e\en,  and  to  kecj)  exactly  in  the  middle  of  the  river  the 
whole  way  thither;  if  ihe  boats  were  suffered  to  get  off  their  course 
ever  so  little,  either  to  the  right  or  left,  it  would  be  impossible  to 
stem  the  current,  and  bring  them  again  into  it;  they  would  be  irre- 
sistibly carried  toward  the  Falls,  and  destruction  must  inevitably 
follow.  In  returning  from  the  island  there  is  still  more  di^culty 
and  danger  than  in  going  to  it." 

We  have  recrossed  the  bridge,  passed  the  gate,  and  at  our  left, 
in  [)lain  view,  stands  the  entrance  to 

PROSPECT  PARK, 
a  remnant  of  the  natural  forest.  Cool,  shady  walks  run  in  all 
directions,  the  air  is  full  of  the  fragrance  of  wild  blossoms,  rustic 
seats  at  intervals  furnish  delightful  resting  places  and  convenient 
l)Ositions  to  ga/e  at  the  scenery.  When  the  shades  of  night  envelop 
the  earth  in  darkness,  electric  lights  pour  their  brilliant  rays  upon 
the  scene,  intusing  the  spray  clouds  with  gorgeous  rainbow  tints 
and  brilliantly   illuminating  the   rolling  waters.     An   Art   Gallery, 

tj-t 


1'KU:i1'L:CT    i'AKK   SCENKb. 


Concert  Hall,  Fountains,  Bazaar,  and  other  objective  points  of 
entertainment,  are  provided  to  engage  the  attention  of  visitors. 

PROSPECT    POINT 

is  on  the  very  verge  of  the  I'^all,  at  the  point  where  its  mighty  waters 
descend  in  one  solemn  unbroken  mass  into  a  gulf  of  spray  rising  in 
clouds  from  the  tortured  waves  beneath,  and  driven  about  by  the 
gusts,  till  sometimes  the  whole  river  and  the  opposite  shores  are 
momentarily  concealed.  As  this  misty  curtain  is  withdrawn,  the 
whole  scene  is  disclosed.  Immediately  in  front  is  the  American 
Fall,  its  waters  almost  in  reach  of  the  outstretched  hand,  beyond 
this  Luna  Island  and  the  wooded  steps  of  (loat  Island,  while  to  the 
right  stretches  in  wonderful  magnificence  the  sublime  curve  of  the 
Horse-shoe  Fall ;  and  up  the  stream  the  foaming  rapids  greet  the 
vision. 

Provision  has  been  made  for  a  raj)id  transit  to  the  base  of  the 
precipice  upon  which  we  stand,  and  we  take  our  seats  ui)on  the 

novel  cars  of 

THE    INCLINED   RAILWAY. 

A  tunnel  has  been  cut  from  the  cliffs  to  the  margin  of  the  river, 
at  an  angle  of  about  30  degrees,  and  within  it  is  built  the  railway, 
by  the  side  of  which  is  a  flight  of  stairs,  numbering  290  stei)s.  The 
cars  are  raised  and  lowered  by  machinery,  and  are  so  arranged  that 
one  ascends  while  the  other  descends. 

Landing  into  a  tunnel-like  shed  and  donning  an  oU-skin  dress, 
we  emerge  onto  the  rocks  into  a  storm  of  spray,  and  stand  upon 

THE  HURRICANE  BRIDGE, 
from  which  may  be  seen  a  tremendous  ghost  of  mist,  forming  heavy 
clouds  fringed  with  all  the  brilliant  colors  of  the  rainbow.  The 
scene  is  wild  and  overpowering.  Looking  up  to  the  towering  crest 
of  the  stupendous  cataract,  the  immense  mass  of  waters  seems  to 
pour  down  from  the  skies.     We  pass  now  to 

THE  SHADOW  OF  THE  ROCK, 
the  name  given  to  a  recess  behind  the  Fall  itself,  which  extends 
nearly  to  the  center  of  the  Fall;  and  is  filled  with  the  dashing  spray 
perpetually  rising  from  the  caldron  of  waters.  The  roar  of  the 
cataract  echoes  and  re-echoes  within  this  chamber,  the  effect  being- 
heightened  by  the  compression  of  the  air. 

00 


■I:     '.    ','l''fii:;;|i".ui:!:" 


Returning  to  the  dressing  rooms,  we  cast  off  our  mariner's  suits 
and  are  ready  for  a  trip  to  the  Canada  side,  in 

THE   FERRY. 

We  commit  ourselves  to  the  Httle  boat  and  are  soon  dancing  on 
the  agitated  waters,  gazing  in  profound  silence  at  the  Falls.  This 
crossing  affords  most  vivid  impressions  of  the  majesty  and  im- 
mensity of  the  Cataract.  The  brawny  boatman  handles  his  oars 
dextrously,  and  in  a  few  minutes  we  are  landed  at  the  foot  of  a 
steep  roadway  on  the  Canadian  side. 

Much  is  said  about  "the  road  to  Jordan;"  this  ferry  road  was 
not  in  existence  at  so  early  a  date,  but  proves  a  hard  one  to  travel 
nevertheless.  However,  the  reward  is  at  hand,  and  the  goal  reached. 
We  are  upon  the  bank. 

GENERAL  VIEW. 

Here  we  have  a  view  embracing  the  entire  contour  of  the  Cata- 
ract from  the  northern  point  of  the  American  Fall  to  the  Canadian 
shore  at  Table-Rock.  Away  southward  "  the  cataract  flashes  and 
thunders  and  agonizes — an  almighty  miracle  of  grandeur  for  ever 
going  on; — the  sight  is  riveted  on  the  yeasty  writhe  in  the  abysm, 
and  the  solemn  i)illars  of  crystal  eternally  falling,  like  the  fragments 
of  some  palace-crested  star,  descending  through  the  interminable 
space.  The  white  field  of  the  iris  forms  over  the  brow  of  the  cata- 
ract, exhibits  its  radiant  bow,  and  sails  away  in  a  vanishing  cloud  of 
vapor  upon  the  wind;  the  tortured  and  convulsed  surface  of  the 
caldron  below  shoots  out  its  frothy  and  seething  circles  in  perpetual 
torment;  the  thunders  are  heaped  upon  each  other,  the  earth 
trembles] — the  rocks  and  woods  around  are  tinged  with  the  ever- 
changing  rays  of  the  rainbow;  the  spectator  sees  the  whole  sweep 
of  the  great  cataract  spread  before  him  at  once,  in  a  fine  pano- 
ramic view  of  both  F'alls.  The  river,  whose  general  course  has 
been  east  and  west,  makes  a  sharp  turn  to  the  right  just  at  the 
point  where  the  Fall  now  is.  Its  breadth  is  here  contracted 
from  three-fourths  of  a  mile  to  less  than  one-fourth.  The  Horse- 
Shoe  Fall  only  occupies  the  head  of  the  chasm,  while  the  American 
Cataract  falls  over  its  side;  so  that  this  Fall  and  jiart  of  the 
Horse-Shoe  lie  directly  parallel  with  the  Canada  shore,  and  its 
whole  extent  can   be    taken   in   at   a   single  glance.      It   is   this 

68 


Ferryman's  Landinc — Canada  Side. 


oneness  of  aspect  which  renders  the  prospect  from  this  side  so  much 
the  more  impressive.  It  gives  a  strong,  sharp  outline  which  may 
afterward  be  filled  up  at  leisure. " 

AMERICAN  FALLS— FRONT  VIEW. 
A  few  steps  further,  and  from  a  small  platform  on  the  ledge 
opposite  the  Brunswick  house,  there  is  a  most  interesting  front  view 
of  the  American  and  Center  Falls.  The  Rapids  above,  the  church 
spires  of  the  American  village  showing  through  the  trees,  the  islands 
in  the  river,  the  rocks  at  the  foot  of  the  Falls  ui)on  which  the 
descending  torrent  breaks  into  spray,  all  contribute  to  the  magnifi- 
cence of  the  picture. 

TABLE   ROCK 

exists  only  in  name,  and  in  the  interest  which  attaches  to  its  site. 

It  was  a  truly  magnificent  crag,  overhanging  the  fearful  abyss,  and 

it  constituted  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  place.     The  overhanging 

Table  fell  in  1850,  and  its  remains  stand  in  a  huge  mass  of  rock  at 

the  edge  of  the  river  below  the  bank.     It  extends  along  the  bank 

to  the  very  junction  with  the  Horse-Shoe  Fall,  and  the  view  from  if 

is  full  of  sublimity.     "He  who  admires  Nature  in  her  stern  and 

magnificent  array,  should  stand  upon  the  Table  Rock,"  says  Murray. 

"There  '•Presciitioreni  Conspiciet  Deum^' — there  the  tremendous  roar 

will  stun  his  ear — the  mingled  masses  of  waters  and  of  foam  will 

bewilder  his  eye — his  mind  will    be   overwhelmed  by  contending 

feelings  of  elevation  and  depression — and,  unless  he  be  colder  than 

the  very  rock  on  which  he  stands,  the  thoughts  that  press  upon  his 

brain   will  be  high,  pure,  and  enthusiastic,  and  his  hot  brow  will 

welcome  the  cool,  light  spray  that  is  ever  falling  around  the  holy 

spot. " 

HORSE-SHOE   FALL. 

Here  we  are  again  at  the  edge  of  the  famous  Cataract.     The 

pencil  nor  the  pen  can  do  justice  to  the  scene.     The  silent  and 

still  picture  wants  the  motion  and  the  sound  of  that  stupendous 

rush  of  waters.      An   ever-rising  column  of   spray,  crowned  with 

prismatic  glory,  spires  upward  from  the  foaming  gulf  below.     This 

spectacle  alone  is  worth  a  pilgrimage  of  several  thousand  miles  to 

see.     The  depth  of  the  water  in  the  center  is  more  than  20  feet,  as 

proven   by   an  experiment   made    with    the    unseaworthy   vessel, 

"Michigan,"  sent  over  the  Falls  in  1827. 

70 


Table  Rock. 


This  Fall  is  1900  feet  across,  with  a  drop  of  15.S  feet,  and  fully 
fifteen  hundred  million  cubic  feet  of  water  pass  over  the  ledge  every 
hour.  The  name  "Horse-Shoe"  is  hardly  true  to  the  present  shape, 
which  is  now  more  nearly  rectangular.  The  horse-shoe  curve  has 
been  marred  by  the  falling  of  portions  of  the  cliff  at  various  times, 
until  its  original  symmetry  has  nearly  departed. 

THE  SPIRAL  STAIRCASE, 

firmly  anchored  to  the  rocky  banks  at  the  north  end  of  Table-Rock, 
descends  the  perpendicular  face  of  the  cliff  and  leads  under  Table- 
Rock,  and  to  the  foot  of  the  Horse-Shoe  Fall.  Dresses  and 
guides  must  be  obtained  to  pass 

BELOW  TABLE-ROCK   AND   UNDER  THE   FALL. 

The  view  here  is  grand  in  an  awful  degree.  An  indescribable 
feeling  of  awe  steals  over  us,  and  we  are  more  than  ever  impressed 
with  the  tremendous  magnificence  of  Niagara,  as  we  gaze  upwards  at 
the  frowning  cliff  that  seems  tottering  to  its  fall,  and  j)ass  under  the 
thick  curtain  of  water — so  near  that  it  seems  as  if  we  could  touch  it 
— and  hear  the  hissing  spray,  and  are  stunned  by  the  deafening  roar 
that  issues  from  the  misty  vortex  at  our  feet.  The  ])recipice  of 
the  Horse-Shoe  Fall  rises  perpendicularly  to  a  height  of  90  feet;  at 
our  feet  the  cliff  descends  about  70  feet  into  a  turmoil  of  bursting 
foam;  in  front  is  the  licpiid  curtain  which,  though  ever  passing 
onward,  never  unveils  this  wildest  of  Nature's  caverns. 

An  English  writer,  Trollo])e,  thus  describes  a  visit  to  this  spot : 
"The  visitor  stands  on  a  broad  safe  path,  between  the  rock  over 
which  the  water  rushes  and  the  rushing  water.  He  will  go  in  so  far 
that  the  spray  rising  back  froni  the  bed  of  the  torrent  does  not 
incommode  him.  With  this  exception,  the  further  he  can  go  in  the 
better ;  but  circumstances  will  clearly  show  him  the  spot  to  which 
he  should  advance.  Unless  the  water  be  driven  in  by  a  very  strong 
wind,  five  yards  make  the  difference  between  a  comjjaratively  dry 
coat  and  an  absolute  wet  one.  And  then  let  liim  stand  with  his 
back  to  the  entrance,  thus  hiding  the  last  glimmer  of  the  exi)iring 
day.  So  standing  he  will  look  up  among  the  falling  waters,  or 
down  into  the  deep  misty  pit,  from  which  they  reascend  in  almost 
as  palpable  a  bulk.  The  rock  will  be  at  his  right  hand,  high  and 
hard,  and  dark  and  straight,  like  the  wall  of  some  huge  cavern,  such 

72 


Canadian  Rai-ius  auovk  the  Fali  "^p 


as  children  enter  in  their  cheams.  For  the  first  five  minutes  he  will 
be  looking  but  at  the  waters  of  a  cataract, — at  the  waters,  indeed, 
of  such  a  cataract  as  we  know  no  other,  and  at  their  interior  curves 
which  elsewhere  we  can  not  see.  Hut  by-and-by  all  this  will 
change.  He  will  no  longer  be  on  a  shingly  ])ath  beneath  a  water- 
fall; but  that  feeling  of  a  cavern  wall  will  grow  upon  him,  of  a 
cavern  deej),  below  roaring  seas,  in  which  the  waves  are  there, 
though  they  do  not  enter  in  upon  him;  or  rather  not  the  waves,  but 
the  very  bowels  of  the  ocean.  He  will  feel  as  though  the  floods 
surrounded  him,  coming  and  going  with  their  wild  sounds,  and  he 
will  hardly  recogni/e  that  though  among  them  he  is  not  in  them. 
And  they,  as  they  fall  with  a  continual  roar,  not  hurting  the  ear,  but 
musical  withal,  will  seem  to  move  as  the  vast  ocean  waters  may 
perhaps  move  in  their  internal  currents.  He  will  lose  the  sense  of  "" 
one  continued  descent,  and  think  that  they  are  passing  round  him  in 
their  appointed  courses.  The  broken  spray  that  rises  from  the 
depth  below,  rises  so  strongly,  so  palpably,  so  rapidly,  that  the 
motion  in  every  direction  will  seem  ecpial.  And,  as  he  looks  on, 
strange  colors  will  show  themselves  through  the  mist ;  the  shades  of 
grey  will  become  green  or  blue,  with  ever  and  anon  a  flash  of  white ; 
and  then,  when  some  gust  of  wind  blows  in  with  greater  violence, 
the  sea-girt  cavern  will  become  all  dark  and  black.  Oh,  my  friend, 
let  there  be  no  one  there  to  speak  to  thee  then ;  no,  not  even  a 
brother.     As  you  stand  there  speak  only  to  the- waters. " 

F^merging  from  our  expedition  into  the  cavernous  recess  of  the 
Great  Fall,  we  now  gaze  from  Table  Rock  at  the 

CANADIAN  RAPIDS  ABOVE  THE   FALLS, 

full  before  us,  sweeping  down,  multitudinous,  apparently  illimitable, 
the  white  foaming  crests  drawn  .shari)ly  against  the  horizon,  forming 
a  grand  and  striking  feature  in  the  scenery  of  Niagara;  they  are  pro- 
duced by  the  compression  of  the  river  to  the  width  of  two  miles  and 
a  half  just  below  the  termination  of  Grand  and  Navy  Islands;  and 
by  its  course  for  the  distance  of  three-quarters  of  a  mile  over  ledges 
of  rugged  rocks,  making  a  descent  of  fifty-two  feet  on  the  American 
side,  and  fifty-seven  on  the  Canada  side. 

Continuing  the  road,  we  cross  to  Cedar  Island,  and  following 
the  Grand  Rapids  Drive,  one  of  the  pleasantest  around  Niagara, 

74 


WHIRLI'OOL   Rai'ids. 


along  the  Canadian  Rapids,  wc  reach  the  C'i-akk  Hii.i,  Isf.ands,  five 
in  number,  connected  to  the  main  hind  at  either  end  hy  the  elegant 
suspension  bridges,  "C'astor"  and  "I'olhix. "  I'he  scenery  through 
the  islands  is  of  the  most  varied  character,  in  strong  contrast  to  the 
turbulence  of  the  waters.  Cvnihia  Isi.anp  stands  to  our  left,  and 
immediately  opposite,  across  a  wild  branch  of  the  river,  the  cottage 
erected  over  the  renowned 

BURNING    SPRING, 

where,  through  a  fissure  in  the  rock,  an  inflammable  suli)hurous 
gas  comes  up.  On  the  ai)plication  of  a  lighted  candle,  it  takes  fire, 
and  |)lays  about  with  a  lambent,  flickering  flame,  which  seldom 
touches  the  water,  the  gas  being  at  first  too  pure  to  be  inflammable, 
and  only  obtaining  sufficient  oxygen  after  mingling  with  the  atmos- 
phere. For  the  puri)ose  of  experiments,  witnessed  by  the  visitors, 
the  gas  is  collected  in  a  cylinder,  allowed  to  pass  out  of  the  top  of 
it  through  an  inch  pipe.  After  certain  exi)eriments  are  made,  show- 
ing the  tremendous  force  of  the  gas,  the  cylinder  is  removed,  and 
the  gas  ignited  on  the  surface  of  the  water,  through  which  it  escapes. 
From  the  bluff  above  the  Hurning  Spring,  a  magnificent  view  is 
had  of  the  Rapids  and  the  River,  and  also  of 

NAVY   ISLAND, 

over  three  hundred  acres  in  area.  The  island  is  a  liritish  posses- 
sion, and  in  1837  was  made  the  rendezvous  of  the  Canadian  Patriots 
in  open  rebellion  against  the  authorities  of  the  Dominion. 

Retracing  our  steps,  we  notice,  |)assing  through  the  village, 

THE  MUSEUM    BUILDING, 

which  contains  a  collection  of  natural  and  artificial  curiosities 
gathered  from  the  various  corners  of  the  earth,  and  tastefully 
arranged  for  display. 

Our  objective  point   now  is  the  American  side,  and  in  ti- 
er four  minutes  we  arrive  at  the  entrance  of 

THE    NEW    SUSPENSION    BRIDGE. 

This  graceful  structure  was  completed  in  1869,  and  is  located 
some  300  yards  l)elow  the  American  Falls.  It  is  1268  feet  in  length, 
and  calculated  only  for  a  carriage  way  and  foot  walk.  The  height 
of  the  bridge  above  the  river  is  190  feet  and  the  towers  at  each  end 

70 


n 

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H 

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lft'.lilfei 


Wmm 


S  '^^ 


are  over  loo  feet  high.  These  are  provided  with  suitable  stairways 
and  elevators  to  reach  the  top,  from  which  fine  views  of  the  scenery 
can  be  had.  The  bridge  is  undisturbed  by  ordinary  winds;  but 
winds  that  are  but  gentle  bree/es  on  the  land,  strike  the  bridge  with 
the  force  of  a  brisk  gale,  and  a  gale  on  land  l)ecomes  a  storm  on 
the  water.  'J'he  winds  press  through  the  gorge  as  through  a  funnel. 
Even  in  the  calm  weather,  puffs  of  wind  come  up  from  the  I'\alls, 
surcharged  with  spray,  and  then  there  may  be  seen,  in  sunshine, 
the  new  phenomenon  of  a  rainbow,  both  over  and  under  the  |)lat- 
form,  describing  a  complete  circle  round  about  the  bridge. 

W.  I).  Howells  describes,  in  his  account  of  a  certain  wedding 
journey  to  Niagara  Falls,  the  superb  view  from  this  bridge.  "The 
last  hues  of  sunset  lingered  in  the  mists  that  sprung  from  the  base 
of  the  Falls  with  a  mournful,  tremulous  grace,  and  a  movement 
weird  as  the  play  of  the  Northern  Lights,  'i'hey  were  touched  with 
the  most  delicate  purples  and  crimsons,  that  darkened  to  deep  red, 
and  then  faded  from  them  at  a  second  look,  and  they  flew  u])ward, 
swiftly  ujnvard,  like  trooi)s  of  pale,  transparent  ghosts;  while  a  per- 
fectly clear  radiance,  better  than  any  other  for  local  color,  dwelt 
upon  the  scene.  Viw  under  the  bridge  the  river  smoothly  ran,  the 
undercurrents  forevc  unfolding  themselves  upoi>  the  surface  with  a 
vast  roselike  evolution,  edged  all  round  with  faint  lines  of  white, 
where  the  air  that  filled  the  water  freed  itself  in  foam.  What  had 
been  clear  green  on  the  face  of  the  cataract  was  here  more  like 
rich  verd  anti(pie,  and  had  a  look  of  firmness  almost  like  that  of 
the  stone  itself.  So  it  showed  beneath  the  bridge,  and  down  the 
river  till  the  curving  shores  hid  it.  These,  springing  abrui)tly  from 
the  water's  brink,  and  shagged  with  i)ine  and  cedar,  displayed  the 
tender  verdure  of  grass  and  bushes  intermingled  with  the  dark  ever- 
greens that  climb  from  ledge  to  ledge,  till  they  point  their  speary 
tops  above  the  crest  of  the  bluffs.  In  front,  where  tumbled  rocks 
and  ex[)anses  of  naked  clay  varied  the  gloomier  and  gayer  green, 
sprung  those  spectral  mists;  and  through  them  loomed  out,  in  its 
manifold  majesty,  Niagara,  with  the  seemingly  immovable,  white 
(iothic  screen  of  the  American  Fall,  and  the  green  massive  curve 
of  the  Horse-Shoe,  solid  and  simple  and  calm  as  an  Egyptian  wall; 
while  behind  this,  with  then-  white   and  black  expanses  broken  by 

7a 


Elevator  at  Whirlpool  Rapids. 


dark-foliaged  little  isles,  the  steep  Canadian  rapids  billowed  down 
between  their  heavily  wooded  shores. " 

On  the  American  shore,  to  the  north  of  the  bridge, 
THE  BRIDAL  VEIL  FALL, 
a  rushing  strip  of  white  foam  and  mist,  runs  down  the  rocky  bank. 
It  is  a  part  of  the  waters  whose  power  has  been  dedicated  to  in- 
dustrial pursuits,  a  canal  from  the  head  of  the  rapids  furnishing 
the  [)Ower  for  numerous  mills  and  factories,  and  emi)tying  into  the 
river  at  this  point. 

We  have  now  seen  all  the  points  immediately  around  these 
wonderful  Falls,  but  the  Niagara  river  has  still  many  sur[)rises  in 
reserve  for  us. 

Directing  our  course  northwards,  catching  on  our  way  some 
delightful  glimpses  of  the  river  and  Falls,  we  pass  through  the  village 
of  Suspension  bridge,  where  concentrate  several  of  the  great  rail 
highways  between  the  east  and  the  west.     First  looms  u[)  to  view 

THE  NEW  CANTILEVER  BRIDGE 
recently  opened,  a  positively  elegant  structure,  (>(  new  model,  the 
first  of  any  magnitude  constructed  upon  the  Cantilever  principle.  It 
was  erected  by  the  Central  Bridge  Works  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  in  less 
than  seven  months  from  the  award  of  the  contract,  for  the  Michigan 
Central  Railroad  Company.  It  is  a  monument  to  the  progress  and  ad- 
vancement of  this  age,  creditable  alike  to  its  projfxtors  and  builders. 

Below  this  stands  another  remarkable  structure, 
THE  OLD  SUSPENSION    BRIDGE, 
two   miles  below  the  Falls.     This  was  built  in   1855  by  John  A. 
Roebling,  and  is  both  a  railroad  and  carriage  bridge.     It  is  a  marvel 
of  engineering,  some  8,000  miles  of  wire  being  employed  in  the 
cables. 

The  following  are  the  dimensions : 
Length  of  span,         .......  822  feet. 

Height  of  tower  above  rock,  American  side,  .  .  88  " 

"  "  "         "      Canada  side,  .  .  78  " 

"  "  "         floor  of  railway         .  .  .  60  " 

Number  of  wire  cables,      ......  4 

Diameter  of  each  cable,        ......         lo^'jin. 

Number  of  No.  9  wires  in  each  cable,  .  3)639 

Ultimate  aggregate  strength  of  cables,  .         .  12,400  tons. 

80 


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O 

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The  first  strinp;  was  carried  across  the  chasm  by  means  of  a  kite, 
and  then  heavier  ropes  were  dragged  across,  till  the  cables  them- 
selves thus  performed  the  passage. 

WHIRLPOOL   RAPIDS. 

The  narrowing  of  the  channel  in  the  vicinity  of  the  bridge 
greatly  accelerates  the  current,  and  the  tremendous  force  with  which 
it  rushes  through  the  gorge  throws  the  water  into  violent  commotion. 
On  the  American  side  a  double  elevator,  and  on  the  Canada  side  an 
inclined  railway  ha\e  bt'cn  jxovided  to  descend  to  the  water's  edge 
and  take  a  near  view  of  the  ^vild  scene. 

Descending  b\-  the  elevator,  on  the  American  side,  we  easily 
reach  the  river's  edge,  and  the  mass  of  foaming  angry  waters, 
seething  billows,  wild,  startling  and  fearful  in  their  i)Ower,  give  us  a 
realization  of  the  terrific  force  of  Niagara. 

To  the  Whirlpool  Ra|)ids  Park,  on  the  Canada  side,  our  steps 
are  now  directed.  We  cross  over  the  .Suspension  Bridge  and  after 
descending  by  means  of  what  might  be  properly  termed  a  "gravita- 
tion railway,"  we  are  in  a  most  delightful,  cool  and  shady  retreat, 
the  swift-rolling  waters  surging  at  our  feet.  "There  are  the  rapids 
of  Niagara  river,"  lately  wrote  M.  M.  Porneroy,  the  undaunted 
Bricks  "we  can  see  ui>  stream  for  some  distance,  but  for  the  bend 
cannot  see  the  falls  nor  hear  them  roar.  Down  through  this  narrow 
ravine  rushes  the  green,  cold  water  at  the  rate  of  thirty  miles  an 
hour.  The  river  is  probably  deeper  than  it  is  wide  at  this  point — a 
restless  torrent  set  up  edgewise !  'I'he  center  of  the  stream  is  many 
feet  higher  than  are  its  ragged  sides  or  edges.  The  channel  is  ob- 
structed with  the  huge  fragments  of  rocks  that  have  fallen  from  the 
sides  of  the  gorge  or  ravine,  200  feet  above.  Great  billows  rise 
like  giants  and  throw  themselves  higher  still  as  spray,  as  a  current 
halting  at  some  great  obstruction  at  the  bottom  of  the  river  is  struck 
by  the  rushing  volume  and  imperiously  and  irresistibly  ordered  to 
move  on.  Now  the  billows  lull  and  we  can  see  a  picnic  party  on 
the  opposite  shore  at  the  foot  of  a  perpendicular  enclosed  elevator. 
In  a  second  a  billow  rises  from  ten  to  forty  feet  high,  curls,  carves, 
writhes,  struggles  and  tlies  to  pieces  as  though  annihilated.  In  an 
instant  it  is  reformed  and  with  a  roar,  a  shout,  a  curse,  a  protest, 
leaps  high  in  air,  falls  and  rises  again  like  some  grand   wounded 

82 


r. 


r 


d 
en 


hero  who  will  not  die  though  stal)])ed  to  i)ieces.  The  waters  dash 
fierce  and  fast  upon  the  rock-ribbed,  corrugated  shore.  'I'he  sun 
heats  down  from  overhead  as  if  eiij()\ing  and  ai)i)hiu(ling  the 
struggles  of  the  river.  (Jrasses.  vines,  flowers  and  small  trees  are 
struggling  to  gain  a  deeper  toothold  and  to  live,  as  they  hold  fast  to 
look  down  and  to  watch  the  irrepressible  conflict." 

CAPTAIN    WEBB. 

"  It  was  through  this  gorge,  these  rapids,  that  a  foolish  man 
lately  lost  his  life  in  an  attempt  to  s>vim.  or  to  be  lloated,  or  whirled 
down  them  alive.  He  was  rowed  out  to  the  center  of  the  stream 
above  the  Susi)ension  IJridge.  left  his  hat  and  clothes  in  the  boat, 
shook  hands  with  the  boatman  who  ferrietl  us  ()\-er  in  his  yawl,  and 
set  his  face  to  his  death.  Like  a  feather  on  the  water  he  swam 
down  where  the  eddving  foam  halts  as  if  afraid  of  the  ra[)ids — ^like 
a  toy  in  a  blast  he  is  caught  up,  lifted,  whirled,  and  tlimg  lifeless  by 
one  compressed  wave  against  another,  and  in  a  moment  his  lifeless 
remains  are  dandled  aloft  on  the  finger  tips  of  the  giant  Niagara, 
then  cast  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  ra|)ids  to  float  onto,  and  into,  and 
out  of,  and  bcNond  the  whirlpool,  and  then  (piietly  along  on  the 
bosom  of  the  green,  mighty  river,  liis  brave  uptiu'ned  face  telling 
no  story  other  than  one  of  foolish  bravery.  P'earless,  foolish 
Captain  Webb. " 

This  mad  attempt  of  Captain  Matthew  Webb  took  place  on  the 
24th  day  of  July,  1883.  The  body  was  recovered  during  the  after- 
noon of  jiilv  28th.  in  the  river,  below  I.ewiston,  aiid  hnalh'  iii\en  a 
final  resting  place  in  the  strangers' plot,  at  Oakwoods  Cemeterv, 
where  his  grave  lies  side  by  side  with  that  of  the  Hermit  of  the 
Falls. 

NAVIGATION    OF    THE    RAPIDS. 

iUit  take  notice  of  tlicjse  rai)ids  and  ask  yourself  what  chance  of 
life  would  remain  to  any  ship,  craft,  or  boat  recjuired  to  na\igate 
this  torrent.  The  feat,  however,  has  been  accom])lished.  A  small 
steamer,  called  the  "Maid  of  the  Mist,"  was  built  upon  the  river, 
between  the  Falls  and  the  Rapids,  and  was  used  for  taking  frequent 
daily  trips  amidst  the  si)ray  in  the  basin  below  the  cataract.  As 
she  was  confined  to  one  side  of  the  river  for  taking  i)assengers,  the 
traffic  became  unprofitable,  and  the  owAer  concluded  to  sell  her. 

84 


The  Maid  or  the  Mist  and  her  Pilot. 


He  could  ^et  a  fair  offer  if  the  boat  was  delivered  in  the  waters  of 
Lake  Ontario.  Captain  Joel  K.  Rohiiison,  who  had  been  her  pilot, 
concluded  to  run  the  rapids  and  take  the  boat  throii:j;h  this  hell  and 
ftir\'  of  waters.  Accordingly,  in  the  afternoon  of  the  Sth  day  of 
September,  f<S6f,  with  only  the  enj^ineer  in  the  hold  and  a  friend 
with  him  at  the  wheel,  he  inidertocjk  that  wondrous  \())a^e. 

The  boat  darted  like  an  arrow  into  the  first  raj^id.  She  made  one 
lon<^  leap  down  as  she  passed  under  old  Suspension  Dridj^'e,  her 
funnel  was  at  once  knocked  tlat  on  the  deck,  she  careened  o\i.'r. 
the  waters  covered  her  from  stem  to  stern,  but  she  rose  aj^ain,  and 
skimmed  into  the  whirlpool.  With  sure  hand  and  eye  undimmed, 
Robinson  ga\e  a  powerful  |)ull  at  the  wheel,  shot  free  of  the  suckinj; 
eddit's  of  the  dreaded  whirl|)ool,  took  the  sharp  turn  round  into  the 
river  below,  and  in  an  instant  steamed  into  the  tpiiet  waters  at 
Lewiston.  The  feat  was  done.  'J'he  Maid  was  sold,  and  carried 
from  thence  to  the  St.  Lawrence  river. 

THE    WHIRLPOOL. 

A  half  mile  below  the  Rapids,  the  Whirlpool  is  found.  Here 
the  river  makes  an  acute  angle  in  its  course,  turning  to  the  right, 
and  boils  within  a  narrower  compass  than  in  any  other  s[)ot.  The 
current  of  the  river  runs  with  such  fierce  velocity  that  it  rises  uj)  in 
the  middle  ten  to  twenty  feet  above  the  sides.  The  rocks  around 
are  abrupt.  On  the  surface  of  this  whirling  vortex  are  often  seen 
the  ruins  of  forest  floating  around,  marking  out  to  the  eye  the  outline 
of  that  fatal  circle.  The  bodies  of  i)eople  who  have  been  lost  over 
the  l''alls  float  sometimes  round  and  rountl  this  dismal  hole  for  days 
together,  carried  on  the  surface  by  the  whirling  eddies  back  to  the 
main  stream,  or  sucked  down,  to  emerge  again  in  a  few  minutes, 
and  continue  their  ghastly  journey. 

HERE   tho  lonii'  valley  (u-ooks,  and  tfio  Mii>iit  of  tlio  river  is  brnken  ; 
Heartlony  it  pluuf^es,  (losi)airin<r,  and  l)eat.s  on  tlie  l)ars  of  its  jirison; 
Beats,  and  runs  wildly  from  wall  to  wall,  then  strives  to  recover, 
Beats  on  another  still,  and  around  the  eiiclc  is  carried. 
Josth'd  from  shoulder  to  shoulder,  till  losiny  its  ^allopinji;-  motion, 
Dizzily  round  it  swirls,  and  is  drairiJ^ed  toward  the  hideous  Whirlpool. 

Round  sweeps  the  horril)le  maelstrom,  and  into  the  whirl  of  its  vortex 
Circle  a  hrokei  boat,  an  o:ir-blade,  thing's  without  number; 
Htriviny,  they  shove  one  another,  and  secnu  to  hurry,  impatient 
To  measure  the  shadowy  will-be,  and  seek  from  their  torment  a  resoite, 

bU 


The  Whirlpool. 


LojfH  that  httvo  leapt  tlio  Falls  and  RWum  unsnen  'iioath  the  ourrnnt, 
Here  are  rentorod  atralii,  and  woird  Ih  tlicir  roHtirnu-tlon; 
H<!r(!  liko  Htraws  they  an;  Hiiapt,  and  irrindlni,''  likr  millwtonoH  to>reth«ir, 
Ohatln^  and  H])linterin^  their  inut^H,  tliuy  wade  in  thi'ir  duepeninff  ruinH; 

Till,  witliout  hopn,  on  tiptoo  thov  rise,  lips  shiivclnd  and  Hpocchh^fH, 
Ht'«'intr  Hiirt!  t'atd  Ixifon!  tJnun  tluit  tiRlitt^nn  its  toils  to  (fiisiian'  Uien>; 
Hollow  the  hell-hole  Kftp<!H,  and  ravenously  it  receiv«!s  them; 
All  that  1h  left  is  a  siffh,  and  the  eehouH  of  that  are  soon  stratiK'led. 

—  (Iro.  //t>K;/fit(Hi\s  .Viiif/ara, 

THE    MANITOU,  OR    PINNACLE    ROCK, 

is  siipjjoscd  to  he  a  poiiioii  of  the  clilt",  at  the  base  of  which  it  lies, 
thrown  down  in  formiT  times.  It  is  situated  about  fifty  rods  above 
the  whirlpool,  at  the  ed^e  of  the  river,  its  shajje  beiiiij;  that  of  an 
inverted  cone,  with  its  apex  resting  upon  the  sunnnit  of  another 
large  rock,  reaching  to  the  height  of  nearly  one  hundred  feet  from 
the  water's  edge. 

BROCK'S  MONUMENT. 
On  Queenston  Heights,  four  miles  below  the  Whirlpool,  on  the 
Canada  side,  stands  the  Moinmient  erected  to  the  memory  of  the 
British  (ieneral,  Sir  Isaac  Hrock.  who  fell  in  the  sanguinary  action 
fought  on  the  spot  on  the  15th  of  ( )(lober.  1.S12.  The  view  from 
this  monument  is  most  gorgeous.  The  eye  wanders  with  untiring 
delight  over  a  rich  scene  of  woodland  and  water,  through  the 
branches  of  the  trees.  You  can  see  the  tops  of  the  houses  of 
Queenston,  and  before  you  unrolls  a  magnificent  i)anorama.  The 
Niagara  river  winding,  like  a  ribbon  sjjread  ui)on  the  earth  sub- 
jected to  the  caprices  of  the  wind,  and  finally  mingling  its  waters 
with  that  of  Lake  Ontario;  the  blue  hills  of  Toronto  in  the  far  dis- 
tance; the  vast  expanse  of  the  lake,  and  the  liicturescpie  shores  on 
both  sides,  form  the  salient  points  of  the  ])icture. 

THE   TOP   OF   THE    MOUNTAIN, 

on  the  American  side,  o|)posite  Queenston  Heights,  also  affords 
from  its  el.evated  position  a  magnificent  view  of  Lake  Ontario  and 
the  river  Niagara. 

Just  below  Queenston  Heights  is  the  village  of 

QUEENSTON,  ONTARIO, 

a  small  picturestpie  town,  worthy  of  notice  chielly  on  account  of 
the  memorable  battle  that  took  place  on  the  neighboring  heights. 

S8 


LEWISTON,   N.  Y., 

opposite  Qucenston,  is  a  beautifully  situated  town,  about  seven 
miles  from  the  Falls.  It  is  a  place  of  some  importance,  and  stands 
at  the  head  of  the  navigation  on  the  river;  it  contains  several  fine 
hotels  and  i)ublic  buildings.  The  first  Suspension  Bridge  across 
Niagara  river,  now  a  dangling  ruin,  was  erected  at  this  point. 
Seven  miles  further 

NIAGARA   TOWN 

Stands  on  the  Canada  shore,  opposite  Youngstown,  on  "he  site  of 
Newark,  which  was  burnt  in  1813  by  (ieneral  McClure.  A  short 
distance  above  the  town  are  the  remains  of  Fort  (iKORCK,  which 
was  taken  by  the  Americans  in  181 2,  afterward  destroyed  by  the 
British  and  left  in  ruins.  It  is  an  agreeable  summer  resort,  facilities 
being  provided  for  comfort,  sport,  games  and  outdoor  enjoyment. 

FORT  NIAGARA 

Stands  a-t  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River  on  the  American  side. 
There  are  many  interesting  associations  connected  with  this  spot. 
During  the  earlier  i)art  of  the  past  century  it  was  the  scene  of  many 
severe  conflicts  between  the  whites  and  the  Indians,  and  sub- 
sequently between  the  English  and  the  French.  In  1812,  1813,  and 
1814  it  was  one  of  the  pivotal  points  of  the  British-American  fron- 
tier war.  It  was  established  as  a  trading  post  by  La  Salle  in  1678. 
The  village  adjacent  to  the  Fort  is  called  Youngstown,  in  honor 
of  its  founder,  the  late  John  Young,  Esq. 

FORT  MISSASAUGA, 

also  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  opposite  Fort  Niagara,  is  a  little 
below  the  town  of  Niagara,  and  is  used  as  a  summer  camp,  garri- 
soned by  British  soldiers. 

THE    DEVIL'S    HOLE, 

on  the  American  side,  three  miles  below  the  Falls,  is  a  large  chasm 
in  the  bank  of  the  river,  which  receives  the  water  from  a  small 
stream  known  as  Bloody  Run;  it  was  the  scene  of  the  murder  of 
the  English,  600  in  number,  by  the  French  and  Indians  in  1793, 
when  only  three  of  the  number  escaped  to  tell  the  tale. 

90 


11 


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> 
> 

'£■ 

5 


kivER  Banks  from  Table  Rock  to  (^ueenston. 


LUNDY'S   LANE  BATTLE  GROUND, 

located  one  and  one-half  miles  west  of  the  Falls,  was  the  scene  of  a 

sanguinary  action   between  the   Hritish  and  American   forces,   on 

July  25th,  1814,  the  loss  on  both  sides  in  killed  and  wounded  being 

1,800. 

DRUMMONDVILLE. 

in  the  immediate  vicinity,  is  named  after  (ieneral  Drummond,  then 

commander  of  the  British  forces. 

ABOVE  THE  FALLS. 

On  the  way  to  or  from  I.undy's  Lane  we  have  passed  within  a 
short  distance  of  a  large  building,  devoted  to  educational  purposes, 
and  generally  known  as  Thk  Convent.  'I'his  institution  is  located 
at  a  point  on  the  bluff,  where  the  river  makes  a  sharp,  big  inshore, 
and  from  the  edge  of  the  bank  can  be  had  one  of  the  most  striking 
views  of  the  cataract.  "  Niagara  should  be  first  ai)proached  from 
above,"  is  a  sentiment  echoed  and  re-echoed  by  the  writers  of  past 
generations;  and  the  one  comprehensive  view,  the  grouping  of 
Rapids  and  Islands  and  Falls  and  Ciorge  as  seen  from  the  Convent, 
presents  a  picture  of  surpassing  beauty.  The  vast  concave  of  the 
Falls  of  Niagara  opens  upon  your  view.  'I'he  American  Fall  forms 
the  farther  extremity  of  the  semicircle,  breaking  in  a  broad  white 
sheet  of  foam  upon  a  heap  of  rocks  below.  Close  by  its  inner  ex- 
tremity is  a  gush  of  water — the  Centre  Fall — a  fragment  of  the 
larger  cataract  separated  by  a  small  rocky  island  in  the  bed  of  the 
river.  The  eye  then  rests  upon  the  precipitous  end  of  (ioat  Island. 
Then  the  curve  of  the  Horse-Shoe  F'all  rounds  into  prospect  with 
full  view  of  the  Islands  and  the  angry  Canadian  Rapids.  F'rom  the 
centre  of  the  curve,  a  ]Mllar  of  spray  floats  calmly  up. 

CHIPPEWA  BATTLE  GROUND. 
Upon  this  field,  located  near  the  village  on  the  Canadian  bank  of  the 
Niagara,  three  miles  above  the  Falls,  Avas  fought  the  first  of  that 
series  of  actions  which  decided  the  campaign  of  18 14  in  favor  of 
the  American  arms.  The  battle  took  place  on  July  5th,  1814. 
The  British  made  the  attack  and  retreated  after  the  action. 

THE  TUSCARORA   INDIAN   RESERVATION 

is  9  miles  northeast  from  the  Falls.     It  is  strictly  an  Indian  village 
upon  which  Tuscaroras  are  located,  and  well  worth  a  visit. 

93 


Outlet  of  Niagara  River. 


DISTANCES. 

FROM  PllINCIPAIi    HOTKLH. 

Around  Goat  iKlaiul,  .  .  _  _ 

"      Prospect  I'ark,  -  .  -  -  . 

To  New  SuHpenHioM  IJridjfe, 
"  Uuihvay    "  "  .  .  .  _ 

"  Cantilever  Uridire,  .  .  .  . 

"  Whirlpool  llapidH,      .  -  -  -  - 

"  Whirlpc.ol, 

"  DeviPHHole, 

"  Top  of  Mountain,  .... 

"  Indian  Village  ((^ountil  House),        ... 
"  Tal)le  Hock,  .  .  .  .  . 

"        "        "     via  New  Suspension  Bridge,  or  Ferry, 

"  Railway  Suspension  Bridge. 
"  Burning  Spring,    ----- 
"        "  "       via  New  Suspension  Bridge, 

"        "  "         "  Iluilway  Suspension  Bridge, 

"  Lundy's  Lane  Battle  Ground,    -  -  - 

To  Brock's  Monument,  Queenston  Heights,  - 


CANADA   BIDE. 

'J    miles. 
I 

•J 

l.'«4     " 

2I4     " 

l.':U    " 

4 

7 

H4    " 


Ihi 


7 


AM.   HIDR. 

1 1<2  miles. 


2Ja     " 

:i 

8 

II4  " 
4.14  " 
__        Ik 

2^2     " 

6 

2 

7     miles. 


To 

It 


To 


ADMISSION    FEES    AND    TOLLS. 

Goat  Island  for  the  day,          -..-_.  ^0  .'iO 

"        "  "       season,  ___.._       i  00 

Prospect  Park  for  the  day,      -           -           -           -           -           -  0  25 

"           "                  season,       -           -           -           -           -  -0  75 

Cave  of  the  Winds  (with  guide  and  dress),  -           -         •-           .  1  00 

Shadow  of  the  Rock  (with  guide  and  dress),       -           -          *-  .1  00 

Art  Gallery  (Prospect  Park),    -           -           -           -           -           -  0  25 

Inclined  Railway  (Prospect  Park),  -  -  -  -         '_      o  25 

Ferry  to  Canada  and  Prospect  Park,            _           _           .           .  0  f,() 

Electric  Light  (Prospect  Park)  extra,  on  day  or  season  tickets,  -      0  15 

Behind  Horse-Shoe  Fall  with  guide  and  dress.     Canada  side,     -  1  00 

Museum,        -           -           -           -           -           -           -           -  -       O  50 

Burning  Spring  and  Islands,              -           -           -           -           -  0  50 

Lundy's  Lane  Battle  Ground,        -           -           -           -           -  -      0  50 

Whirlpool  Rapids  (either  side),           -           -           -           -           -  0  50 

Whirlpool  (either  side),        -           -           -           -           -           -  -0  50 

Crossing  New  Suspension  Bridge  (each  way),          _           .           _  0  25 

"           "              "               "       extra  for  two-horse  carriage,  -      0  50 

Crossing  Ra  Iway  Suspension  Bridge  (over  and  return),    -           -  0  25 

"  ')  •  "  "       e\*To  for  t'vc-ho'-se  carriage,         0  50 

Toll  on  River  JJauk  Highway,  Canada  3ii3,  for  carriages  only,  -      0  10 


dry 


Jj^O 

50 

0  25 

I 

{){) 

0 

50 

0 

12 

RATES   OF    FARE 

ALLOWRD  BT   LAW  IN  THE  VILLAQB  OP  NIAGARA  PALI.H,   N.   Y. 

For  the  wte  and  hire  of  rarringea  wht're  no  exprt'ss  contract  Li  made  therefor. 

For  carrylnjf  one  ))afiHenf;rer  and  ordinary  hagKnge  from  one  jtloce  to 
another  In  this  Vlllaj^e,  --..._ 

Each  additional  poKHenfjrer  and  ordinary  hatmu^a,    -  -  - 

For  carryinj?  one  paHKenffcr  and  ordinary  l)a>fKajfe  from  any  point  in 
thiH  village  to  any  j)oint  in  the  vlilai;re  of  BuHpenBion  liridge, 

Eacii  additional  paHsenger  and  ordinary  Ijafru-age,  .  -  - 

Eacli  additional  piece  of  baggage  other  than  ordinary  l)aggage, 

Children  under  three  years  of  age,  free. 

Over  three  years  and  under  fourteen  years  of  age,  half  price. 

Ordinary  Imggage  is  defined  to  be  one  trunk  and  one  bag,  hat  or  hand  box,  or 
other  small  parcel. 

For  carrying  one  or  more  passengers,  in  the  same  carriage,  from  any  i)oint  in 
this  village  to  any  point  within  five  miles  of  the  limits  of  the  village,  at 
the  rate  of  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  for  each  hour  occupied,  except 
that  in  every  instance  where  such  carriage  shall  be  drawn  by  a  single 
horse,  the  fare  therefor  shall  be  at  the  rale  of  one  dollar  for  each  hour 
occupied. 

As  a  parting  injunction  to  the  visitors  of  the  future,  the  i)ilgrim 
would  advise  them,  in7>ariaf)/}\  to  make  distinct  agreements  with 
the  hackmen  or  any  other  person  whose  services  they  may  recjuire 
at  Niagara  Falls,  as  to  the  service  expected  and  the  amount  to  be 
paid  in  return.  Exact  the  terms  of  your  contract,  but  do  not  go 
beyond  without  first  having  a  thorough  understanding  as  to  the  cost. 


r*^ 


